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BX  9225  .A58  A4  v . 2 
Alexander,  James  W.  1804 

1859. 
Forty  years'  familiar 

letters  of  James  W. 


^ 


Eng  1  -^  A-H-BitaiiE 


FOETY    YEARS' 


FAMILIAR     LETTERS 


OF 


JAMES  W.  ALEXANDEE,  D.  D. 


CONSTITUTING,  WITH  THE  NOTES, 


A    MEMOIE    OF    HIS    LIFE. 


EDITED  BY  THE  SURVIVING  CORRESPONDENT, 

JOHK  HALL,  D.D. 


IN        TWO       VOLUMES 


VOL.    II. 


NEW  YORK : 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER,   GRAND    STREET. 

LONDON: 
SAMPSON  LOW,  SOX  &  COMPANY. 

1860. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1S60,  by 

CHAELES    SCEIBNEE, 

In  the  Clerk's  OflBce  of  the  District  Conrt  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York. 


JOHN  F.  TROW, 

PRINTKR,  STEREOTYPER,   AND   EI.ECTROTVPER, 

50  Greene  Street,  New  York. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  II. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Letters  tvhile  Pastor  of  Duane  Street  CnuRcn,  I^ew  York,  .        .        5 

1844—1849. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Letters  while  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Princeton,       99 

1849—1851. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Letters  during  his  first  tisit  to  Europe, 134 

1851. 

CHAPTER  XIL 

Letters  while  Pastor  op  the  Fifth  Avenue  Church,  New  York,     163 

1851— 185Y. 

CHAPTER  XIIL 

Letters  during  his  second  visit  to  Europe, 238 

1857. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Letters  during  the  remainder  of  his  Pastorate  in  New  York,       .    2*71 

1857—1859. 


4  CONTENTS   OF   VOLUME   II. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XY. 

Concluding  Note, 291 

1859. 

Appendix, 305 

1.  Charge  at  the  Ordination  and  Instalment  of  his  Correspondent. 

2.  Additional  Letter   from  Europe  in  1851. 

3.  Additional  Letters  from  Europe  in  185Y. 

Index, 3*73 


CHAPTEE    IX. 


LETTERS    WHILE    PASTOR    OF    DUANE    STREET 
CHURCH,    NEW    YORK. 

18M— 1849. 

New  York,  October  4,  1844. 
I  WAS  licensed  just  nineteen  years  ago,  this  clay.  Last  even- 
ing I  was  installed.  My  father  preached.  Dr.  Potts  gave  me  a 
good  charge,  very  kind,  but  somewhat  laudatorial.  Dr.  Krebs 
charge  to  the  people.  Mr.  Greenleaf  presided.  Dr.  Spring 
made  the  last  prayer,  in  a  very  memorable  manner ;  it  was  a 
prayer  of  great  pathos.  The  house  was  full.  The  presentation 
to  the  people  was  long,  wearisome,  exciting,  but  accompanied 
with  such  circumstances  as  cheer  and  humble  me.  I  slept  little 
and  am  tremulous  with  a  cup  of  unwonted  coffee.  Till  advised, 
address  J.  W.  A.,  "  Care  Hugh  Auchincloss  &  Sons,  49  Beaver 
Street. "  * 

New  York,  October  10,  1844. 
Where  shall  I  begin  about  this  Babel  1  I  ought  to  begin  by 
expressing  my  thanks  to  benignant  Providence  for  the  pleasant- 
ness of  every  thing,  and  especially  the  warm  reception  I  have 
had.  We  are  not  yet  admitted  to  our  new  house,  but  remain 
with  our  good  friends  [the  late  Mr.  Hugh  Auchincloss]  in  Bar- 
clay St.  We  hope  to  set  up  our  tent  this  week.  I  have  the 
back  room,  2d  story,  for  my  study,  which  I  regard  as  the  chief 
room  in  a  parson's  house.  Ours  is  only  a  two-story  house. 
Prom  my  window  I  have  a  constant  view  of  the  "  Tombs." 

^  Dr.  Alexander  preached  his  first  sermon,  after  the  instalment,  October 
Gth,  from  Psalm  li.  12  ;  and  in  the  afternoon  from  Matthew  xi.  16-19. 


6         WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUANE    ST.    CIirECH,    NEW  TOEK- 

I   preached   all   day,    on   Sunday ;    and   Monthly   Concert    on 
Monday.     Attendance  good,  but  nothing  which  need  cause  any 
re&ort  to  the  police,  as  yet.     As  for  myself,  the  worst  I  haye 
experienced  is  bodily  flitigue.     Eunning  all  day,  and  dead  sleep 
all  night.     Yesterday  I  attended  my  first  funeral,  and  my  first 
clinical  case.     In  the  eyening,  IMr.  Auchincloss  took  a  raft  of  us 
to  the  Tabernacle,  to  see  and  hear  the  Campanologians.     They 
are  really  Tyrol ese,  and  in  costume.     It  passes  belief.     They  are 
seyen,  and  the  music  is  as  exact  as  a  Geneva  box.     I  wished  for 
Dr.  Ewing.     Inter  alia,  they  gaye  the  overture  to  Fra  Diavolo, 
with  eyery  rapid  and  eyery  chromatic  passage  perfectly,  and  all 
the  varieties  of  pianissimo  and  fortissimo.     The  bells,  on  a  rough 
count,  are  30 — iO.     Each  man  has  a  cluster  before  him.     But 
they  do  not  stick  to  this  arrangement,  but  snatch  up  one  another's 
bells  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning.     At  a  distance,  exactly  like 
common   table   or   hand-bells,   the    largest   about   three    pints 
measure.     On  examination,  the  handles  are  leathern,  stiff  and 
elastic,  and  within  are  cushions  so  that  no  shake  but  in  a  certain 
plane  will  give  a  sound.     I  presume  the  vibration  is  checked  by 
a  slight  twirl  of  the  wrist,  such  as  throws  the  clapper  against 
the  cushion.     The  audience  about  4,000.     I  saw  the  Rev.  Symmes 
C.     Henry  and  daughter  there.     ]\Iy  sexton  is  a  treasure  ;  both 
intelligent  and  pious,  and  withal  as  humble  and  "  bid-able  "  as  a 
Helot.     His  name  is  Peter  Tarlsen,  from  Mandel,  near  Christian- 
sand,  in  Norway.     Of  course  his  vernacular  is  Danish ;  but  he 
has  twelve  years'  worth  of  English.     He  is  my  man  Eriday,  and 
does  all  manner  of  chores  for  me,  being  this  moment  toting  my 
books  from  the  basement.     We  have  the  Croton,  but  no  bath- 
room.    Indeed,  New  York  is  immeasurably  behind  Philadelphia 
in  all  that  concerns  neatness  &;c.     E.  g.  we  have  no  back  alley  ; 
nor  has  one  house  in  a  thousand.     I  told  you  I  have  the  house 
where  Dr.  Romeyn  once  was.     I  have  fourd  out  a  number  of 
very  agreeable  neighbours.     AYe  have  every  thing  near.     Centre 
Market   is   about   three   Pliiladelphia  squares   oflf;    Broadway, 
seven  doors  ;    the  Harlaem  railway-route,  about  two  squares. 
The  market  folk  send  every  thing  home  for  you,  and  all  sorts  of 
trades-people  come  to  one's  house,  on  receiving  a  note  through 
the  Despatch-post.     The  thing  which  most  strikes  me,  is  the  loss 
of  time  by  the  immense  distances.     For  instance.  Presbytery  met 
at  Chelsea,  three  miles  from  the  Battery.     One  hundred  guns 
this  afternoon  in  the  park.     These  are  days  of  general  muster. 
Presented  one  bag  of  coff*ee  and  one  box  black  tea ;  one  barrel 
flour,  one  do.  sugar ;  item,  one  rocking  chair,  and  one  arm  ditto. 
Stolen,  one  pile  of  boards  from  the  "  stoop."     I  wish  you  to 
say  to  my  Trenton  friends,  especially  in  your  street,  that,  in 


1844—184:9.  7 

the  extraordinary  hurry  of  departure,  having  one  house  dis- 
mantled, and  the  other  unfurnished,  I  was  barely  able  to  say  adieu 
to  my  Princeton  friends  ;  nay,  one  or  two  of  them  I  had  to  leave 
ungreeted.  The  processional  politics  of  New  York  amounts  to 
a  luror.  Thousands  must  be  spent  on  banners  and  music  alone, 
not  to  speak  of  drink  and  time.  I  think  I  have  spent  half  a 
dollar  a  day  on  omnibuses.  The  weather  has  been  delightful. 
Unless  I  err,  there  is  a  great  desire  for  real  pastoral  attention, 
and  for  Christian  profit. 

New  York,  October  23,  1844. 
I  verily  believe  the  exchange  is  against  Trenton  ;  but,  for  an 
ensample,  I  write.     Last  night,  or  this  morning,  was  allotted  [by 
the  "  Millerites  '']   for  the  day  of  doom.     Some  went  out  and 
encamped  at  Harlaem.     On  Monday  evening  I  heard  the  Rev. 
Mrs.  Bishop,  of  the  True  Israelites  persuasion,  at  the  Tabernacle; 
which  is  now  "  a  house  of  merchandise."     Her  delivery,  gram- 
mar, Scripture-citation,  &c.,  excellent.     Her  main  point  was  the 
exaltation  of  woman.     This  day  has  been  one  of  great  hubbub  : 
the  Young  Whigs'  celebration.     A  live  eagle  ;  three  live  coons  ; 
procession  of  trades ;  cavalcade  of  some  thousands ;  bands  and 
banners  sans  number.     Nothing  gratified  my  eyes  so  much  as 
the  Boston  delegation,  amounting  to  hundreds  ;  fine  fellows  all. 
Willis  has  started  a  daily  ;  and  for  New  York  gossip  and  idle, 
but  witty  badinage,  it  deserves  well.     Kirk  called  yesterday. 
I  have,  in  my  flock,  Mrs.  Renwick,  the  "  Jane  "  of  Burns :  she 
knew  the  poet  well.     The  New  Yorkers  mean  to  have  a  new 
paper:  both  new  and  old  synods  have  jumped  together  in  this, 
and  in  assaulting  the  American  Tract  Society,  about  Merle  s 
book.'     1  find  myself  in  a  very  central  situation  for  my  charge. 
The  church  and  lecture  room  are  easy  to  speak  in.     Mr.  Andrew 
and  two  daughters,  of  my  parish,  have  just  arrived  from  England. 
Capt.  Auchincloss  is  every  day  expected  from  Rio.     My  friends 
here  have  attended  very  properly  to  my  wants  in  the  grocery 
line.     The  fair  of  the  American  Institute  is  worth  seeing.     Serious 
talk  of  a  railway  in  Broadway,  to  exclude  the  omnibuses,  which 
peril  life  every  moment.     A  member  of  our  congregation  was 
killed  by  an  omnibus,  some  months  since.     Leeser  called  on  me, 
on  Sunday  ;  he  had  been  supplying  the  pulpit  of  Rabbi  Lyon 
in  Crosby  Street.     Rabbi  Isaacs  lives  just  round  a  corner  from 
me ;    and   two   synagogues  are  near.      The    omnibuses   of  the 
better  sort  are  lined  wHh  velvet  or  plush,  spring  cushions,  some 

1  Dr.  Merle  d'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation,  \\hicli  had  been 
slightly  altered  in  the  republication. 


8         WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUANE   ST.  CHUECH,   NEAV  YOEK. 

of  them  having  mahogany  arms  dividing  seat  from  seat.  Wain- 
wright  and  Richmond's  edition  of  the  Potts  controversy  is  mean 
beyond  common  meanness.  The  annotator  is  bold  in  billings- 
gate. Our  door  bell  hardly  ceases  to  vibrate.  I  have  laid 
my  people  under  an  injunction  to  furnish  me  in  writing,  with 
their  respective  names  and  number  of  house.  Dr.  Potts  has 
not  yet  elected  elders.  I  hope  you  will  come  on  very  soon  ; 
bed  and  all  ready ;  the  "  Tombs "  in  the  rear ;  I  am  in  the 
''  bloody  Sixth  Ward." 

Yours  most  interruptedly. 


New  York,  October  30,  1844. 
Last  night,  after  my  return  from  lecture,  who  should  come 
in  but  Paclvard,  on  his  way  to  Boston.  On  Saturday  night  I 
heard  the  mxws  announcino;  the  Great  Western  :  these  bisr  thinijs 
are  now  quite  punctual.  Smyth  [of  Charleston]  came  in  the 
Western,  bringing  81,500  worth  of  books  with  him.  He  was 
called  up,  impromptu,  in  the  Farewell  Missionary  meeting,  on 
Sunday,  and  made  an  admirable  address.  Brown  (for  China) 
sailed  yesterday.  Mr.  Masters  [an  elder  of  Duane  street]  is 
ill  with  fever.  Mr.  Auchincloss  had  a  touch  of  illness  on 
the  28th.  Mr.  Hinsdale  has  left  us  for  Brooklyn.  Mr.  Beers, 
our  only  remaining  elder,  is  up  the  river.  On  I\Ionday  evening 
I  heard  Major  Mordecai  ]\Ianasseh  Noah,  on  the  Restoration  of 
Israel ;  an  hour  and  a  half :  rain,  but  full  house.  Doctrine  :  the 
Jews  are  to  be  restored  to  their  own  land.  Inference  :  Christians 
should  aid,  by  procuring  for  Israelites  a  secure  tenure  of  land  in 
Palestine.  He  proposed  to  the  Society  for  Conversion  of  Jews, 
to  deliver  several  lectures  nnder  their  auspices.  The  outcry 
against  Merle's  History  as  altered  by  the  Tract  Society  is  very 
absurd.  The  book  is  exactly  what  it  was,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses :  and  its  influence  is  rendered  a  hundredfold  greater  by 
the  Society  taking  it  up.  I  have  carefully  collated  all  the  pas- 
sages in  question ;  and  while  I  think  the  alterations  needless,  I 
would  not  give  one  cent  for  the  difference.  Certain  New 
School  men  are  bent  on  awakeninsf  a  New  School  sectarism, 
as  against  all  Union  Societies.  They  mean  to  have  a  Publica- 
tion Board.  These  jealousies  are  horrid.  I  do  not  wonder 
that  some  pastors  feel  themselves  at  length  constrained  to  do 
all  their  works  within  their  own  parish.  I  cannot  but  think 
that  spiritual  religion  is  at  a  low  ebb  in  our  churches  in  this 
city.  Never  have  I  heard,  in  the  same  amount  of  visiting,  so 
little  savoury  discourse.  1  believe  Puseyism  triumphs,  (not 
because  Presbyterians  fight  so  little,  brag  so  little,  and  stickle 


1844—1849.  9 

so  little ;  so  saith ,)  but  because  our  actual  state,  in  Pres- 
byterian churches,  has  so  little  to  awahen  and  Jill  the  affections. 
Old  spiritualism  (Polloclvisni)  [i.  199]  is  no  more.  Revivalism 
is  no  more.  The  only  activity  visible  is  a  mere  business  bustle 
in  regard  to  organisms  and  agencies.  Must  we  not  go  deeper 
than  we  have  gone  %  I  am  deeply  affected  with  a  sense  of  this. 
But  how  to  begin  %  At  home,  we  need  most  of  all.  I  have  shut 
up  books,  and  live  in  the  streets  and  houses,  all  the  available 
hours  of  the  day.  Bush  is  out  with  his  anti-resurrection  book. 
[]J^^  Expect  him  to  turn  Swedenborgian.     [This  took  place.] 

and  family  in  the  Great  Western,  from  third  visit  abroad. 

He  says  he  saw  much  of  Carlyle.  C.  and  Tennyson  had  a  night 
with  him  just  before  he  left  London.  Pipe-smoking,  with 
wash-basin  on  table  for  spittoon.  Carlyle  is  in  talk  as  in  his 
books ;  only  "  more  so."  As  Addison  is  printing  [Isaiah] 
with  Wiley  &  Putnam,  I  have  the  entree  there,  and  enjoy  a 
grand  gloat  on  the  arrival  of  each  steamer.  The  English 
books  are  reaching  a  sumptuosity  which  constitutes  a  branch 
of  luxe  quite  new  in  the  world ;  e.  g.  Murray's  4to  edition  of 
Byron.  While  I  write,  the  grand  Whig  procession  is  advancing  : 
Vanitas  vanitatwn.  The  under-current  of  religious  activity  in 
this  city  strikes  me  with  unexpected  force,  as  strong  and  branch- 
ing into  a  vast  number  of  charities.  I  did  not  conceive  that  so 
much  was  effected  in  regard  to  seamen,  tract  distribution,  and 
care  of  poor.  The  increase  of  foreigners  is  amazing  :  I  perceive 
it  in  the  increase  of  foreign  newspapers  in  New  York,  signs  of 
stores,  and  lingos  in  shop  and  market.  Liveries  are  all  the  go 
again  :  everywhere  coachmen  with  white  neckcloths,  of  true  dis- 
senting cut.  I  am  just  called  down  to  talk  with  a  man  from 
Rome  (N.  Y.)  who  heard  me  preach  on  Sunday,  and  is  under 
great  distress  of  mind. 

ISew  Tork,  November  18,  1844. 

Mr.  Masters  was  buried  on  Thursday.  The  body  was 
brought  to  our  church,  contrary  to  New  York  usage.  Dr.  Potts, 
and  Dr.  Cummins  of  Florida,  an  old  friend,  assisted.  I  spoke 
from  John  xvii.  24.  Large  assembly,  including  some  of  the 
chief  merchants  of  New  York.  We  have  lost  the  leading  mind 
in  our  church.  In  the  use  of  his  pen,  Mr.  Masters  took  rank 
with  scholars.  As  a  merchant,  he  was  sasracious  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  I  have  now  but  two  elders  ;  and  old  Mr.  Beers  [since 
deceased]  is  out  of  town  nine-tenths  of  the  time.  I  catechize 
every  Saturday  from  nine  to  ten.  My  lecture  is  on  Tuesday 
evening,  half-past  seven,  in  the  basement.     Last  Thursday  (which 

VOL.  II. 1* 


10      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DIJANE    ST.   CHUECH,  NEW  TORE:. 


5 


is  our   prayer-meeting)  ^ve   had   the  Rev.  John   Macnaiigliton 
of  Paisley.     You  may  remember  the  long  debate  in  the  Free 
Assembly  of  '43,  whieh  resulted  in  refusing  to  translate  him  to 
N.  Leith,  on  account  of  the  resistance  of  his  flock.     He  has  been 
on  a  special  mission  to  Canada,  and  sailed  on  the  16th  in  the 
Hibernia.     He  has  preached  much  oftener  than  once  a  day,  in 
America  ;  on  several  Sabbaths  four  times.     Young,  ruddy,  hand- 
some, uncommonly  plain  in  dress,  and  a  most  eloquent  preacher. 
He  never  uses  a  note,  and  says  "  reading  sermons  is  almost  ex- 
ploded  in  the   Free   Church."     None  of  the  Scotchmen  come 
near  him  for  unction,  elegance  of  diction,  and  Summerfieldian 
soaring  of  imagination.     In  the  Native  American  procession, 
among  abundance  of  Bibles  and  Bible-banners,  I  read,  with  my 
own  eyes,  the  following,  on  a  large  canvas,  and  most  prominent 
place  :  "  By  the  eternal,  we  must  and  shall " — I  presume  the  last 
word  was  "  rule."     I  regard  the  outcry  against  the  Tract  So- 
ciety's edition  of  Merle  d'Aubigne  as  factious  and  wicked.     For 
all  the  ends,  the  mutilated  l30ok  is  not  one  stiver  worse  than 
the  other.     The  New  School  men  are  intent  on  having  a  sec- 
tarian Board  of  Publication.     They  are  angry  with  the  Tract 
Society  for  being  so  old-foshioned  in  doctrine.     In  two  years,  the 
Society  would  have  had  100,000  copies  all  over  the  land.     Now 
they  are  paralyzed,  not  only  in  regard  to  this,  but  all  their 
operations.     All  this,  while  I  think  the  alterations  should  have 
been  first  submitted  to  Merle.     I  fully  agree  with  you  about 
Polk  ;  he  never  fought  a  duel ;  that  is  something  :  Ezek.  xxii. 
6.     A  visit  from  you  will  be  truly  acceptable.     iV  at  any  time 
you  find  us  fall,  your  kin  will  receive  you  ;  here  are  the  names 
and  residences,  in  full,  viz. :     [Here  a  list  of  "  Halls  "  from  the 
Directory.] 

My  prospects  of  a  full  house  are  certainly  not  less  than  I 
expected.  All  our  down-stairs  pews  are  sold,  but  there  are  seals 
offered  to  let.     Gallery-pews  are  not  sought.     I  have  not  visited 

,  lest  I  should  seem  to  be  canvassing ;  the  name  has  not 

been  given  to  me,  as  among  our  hearers,  and  my  time  is  unecjual 
to  the  search  for  such  as  are.  Several  cases  of  awakening  are 
known  to  me.  It  is  generally  believed  that  no  church  in  New 
York  has  so  many  yourig  men.  They  have  a  monthly  associa- 
tion, which  I  have  attended.  Kidder  has  put  out  a  valuable 
translation  from  the  Portuguese,  on  Celibacy  :  see  this  week's 
Observer.  I  have  met  him  twice.  Me  judice,  the  Methodists 
are  doing  more  than  all  of  us,  in  evangelizing  this  Sodom.  The 
monthly  visits  of  the  City  Tract  Society's  "distributors,  is  the 
most  wonderful  and  blessed  agency;  the  half  had  not  been  told  me. 
Burns  has  determined  to  settle  at  Toronto.     A  visiter  told  me 


1844—1849.  11 

this  of which  follows  :  He  was  presented  to  the  Governor  of 

New  Brunswick.  After  he  had  blathered  away,  as  he  is  wont, 
for  about  an  hour,  the  Governor  rose  and  said :  "  As  I  find  no 
opportunity  to  say  any  thing,  I  will  take  my  leave."  The 
Scotch  Publication  scheme  is  grand ;  they  will  have  no  lofts 
filled  with  unsold  books.  It  is  this  :  No  books  are  in  market, 
nor  any  printed,  but  for  subscribers.  All  the  money  goes  to 
cheapen  the  books.  Each  subscriber,  who  at  first  received  two 
bound  vols,  per  annum  for  4^.  sterling,  now  receives  four  bouud 
vols,  for  the  same.  Subscribers  now,  40,000.  This  ensures 
their  being  read,  and  they  are  cheaper  than  our  "  cheap  litera- 
ture." In  all  our  operations  here,  I  am  afraid  much  of  the  water 
runs  beside  the  mill-wheel ;  e.  g.  the  millions  of  "  winged  mes- 
sengers "  which  fly  into  waste-paper-deposit.  But  let's  not 
croak  :  for  croaking  is  already  hindering  half  we  attempt.  I 
wish  AVillis  was  not  so  incorrigibly  and  laboriously  frivolous. 
His  "  Mirror,"  now  daily,  gives  the  best  daguerreotype  of  this 

frivolous  city.     is  to   be  the  editor  of  the  New  School 

paper,  "  and  to  party  give  up,  what  was  meant  for  mankind." 
My  people  will  not  stand  up  in  prayer.  Some  pastors  have 
used  pains  to  introduce  what  Dr.  Cox  calls  a  "  sedentary  reclina- 
ture."  I  hope  they  will  not  introduce  berths,  for  rej)Ose  in 
devotion. 

New  York,  Decemher  2,  1844. 
Your  thoughts  about  the  Sabbath  Convention  show  how  well 
you  have  succeeded  in  picking  up  my  views,  probably  from  my 
old  parishioners.  Beware  how  you  use  "  my  thunder."  Our 
ponderous  fire-bell  is  telling  of  fire.  Though  we  hear  the  tocsin 
at  least  daily,  I  have  never  seen  an  engine,  nor  met  with  that 
sort  of  hubbub  which  agitates  all  Philadelphia  at  once,  on  such 
occasions.  The  reason  perhaps  is,  that  the  law  forbids  engines 
to  go  out  of  their  own  district,  unless  a  special  call  be  made  for 
more  help.  I  have  a  choking  new  cold ;  yet  I  preached  twice 
yesterday,  and  was  at  a  funeral  to-day  :  Dr.  Milnor,  Dr.  Snod- 
grass  and  I.  Fourteen  white  scarfs,  of  fine  twined  linen.  Burial 
in  vault  in  Trinity-yard,  where  Milnor  ofliciated,  after  my  ser-' 
vice  at  the  house.  The  old  Doctor  is  right  hale  for  72.  [He 
died  April  8,  184-5.]  He  tells  me  he  practised  law,  actively, 
twenty  years.  Morse,  after  long  silence,  is  editorializing  about 
Merle's  history.  The  life  of  McCheyne  humbles  me.  What  zeal 
and  fiiith  !  what  a  proof  that  Old  Calvinism  is  not  insusceptible 
of  being  used  as  an  arousing  instrument !  Macnaughton  seems 
to  be  of  the  same  school.  The  book  is  open  to  an  objection, 
conveyed  in  an  anecdote  told  me  by  a  nice  Scotswoman,  the 


12      WHILE  PASTOR   OF  DUANE   ST.   CHUKCH,  NEW  TOEK. 

Other  day.    Dr.  Chalmers  said  of  Burns  jr.,  McCheyne,  McDon- 
ald, &c. :  "  These  young  brethren  are  dohig  a  good  work  ;  but  I 
wish  they  would  have  done  with  their  nursery  endearments.''^ 
Noah  is  repeating  his  lecture  this  evening.     Potts  has  been  chal- 
lenged by  Richmond,  to  discuss  prelacy  in  an  oral  way.     This, 
you  remember,  was  Potts'  proposal  to  Wainwright.     "  And,'' 
Richmond  adds,  "  as  you  are  well  prepared,  let  us  begin  to-mor- 
row."    The  November  number  of  the  "  North  British  Review  " 
is  good.     Leading  article  by  Chalmers.     One  on  Davy,  by  Car- 
lyle ;  one  on  America,   by  Cunningham;  admirable.     One  on 
somebody's  telescope,  by  Brewster.     The  best  is  on  Backhouse 
(quaker)'s  missionary  visit  to  Africa ;  developing  the  principle 
of  a  book  called  "  Good— Better— Best."     Among  all  my  cate- 
chumens, I  find  but  two  who  know  the  whole  Shorter  Catechism. 
I  find  it  my  pleasantest  hour  in  the  week.     Much  talk  in  Prince- 
ton  of   the   amazing   genius   of   a   young   poet.     He   belongs 
to  the  set  which  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  "  New  America." 
They  go  for  metaphysie,  Coleridge,  almost  for  Spinoza.     They 
laugh   at   Locke,  Reid,  Stewart,  &c.     They   undervalue   New- 
ton and  Bacon.     They  applaud   Plato.     They   care   less,  than 
they   once    did,    for    prayer-meetings,    missions,     &c.       Keep 
your   eye   on   this.      How   much   we    need    to    stick   by   the 
plain  declarations  of  the  written  word!     Reading   McCheyne 
makes  ine  feel  how  defective  we  ministers  are,  in  helping  one 
another  in  the  main  point.     It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  one  to 
go  to  in  a  soul-trouble.     Bustle,  bustle.     It  was  temperance — 
it  is  now  the  Sabbath.     I  am  trying  to  fall  in  with  a  good  little 
Moravian,  named  Bigler,  who  is  said  to  preach  the  old  gospel 
with  much  unction. "  Some  of  the  JNIethodists  preach  delight- 
fully ;  and  when  they  all  sing  together,  it  leaves  the  orchestral 
style  far  behind.     I  am  anxiously  concerned  about  new  elders, 
having  only  ^Messrs.  Auchincloss  and  Beers.     I  have  never  had 
any  one  to  pay  a  visit  of  introduction  with  me ;  still  I  am  get- 
tino-  on.     I  lecture  on  Hebrews,  and  wish  I  could  do  nothing  but 
expound.     I  read  one  sermon  a  week ;  with  a  growing  persua- 
sion, that  written  sermons  have  undoubted  points  of  superiority  ; 
but  that  these  are  all  ivorldly.     I  more  and  more  believe  (my 
practice  belies  it)  that  (1)  constant  Bible-study,  using  Scripture 
to  explain  itself,  and  (2)  culture  of  the  heart,  by  prayer,  &c., 
are  the  groat  preparation  for  the  pulpit.     O  for  a  generation  of 
the  old  sort  of  preachers  !     INIatt.  Henry,  Newton,  Cecil,  &c. 
We   are   dying   of   Moderatism.      Listen   to   the   talk   of   our 
divinity-studenis ;    it  is  of  Coleridge,  Emerson,  &c.     In  New 
York,  the  result  of  the  former  exciting  revivals  is  seen,  even 
in  good  men,  in  the  making  all  religion  consist  in  evangelical 


1844—184:9.  13 

effort.  Some  are  very  busy  saving  souls,  with  all  the  dialect 
and  levity  and  coarseness  of  Maj.  Downing.  I  feel  my  own 
defects.  I  desire  to  be  a  parish-minister,  wholly,  and  with  all 
my  soul. 

New  York,  December  9,  1844. 
I  think  we  are  at  cross-purposes  about  the  "  old  sort  of 
preachers."     I  meant  such  Presbyterian  pastors  and  preachers 
as  w^ere  known  to  our  fathers.    I  would  not  demand  that  any  of 
us  should  adopt  those  peculiarities  which  belonged  to  the  age 
and   fashion  of  the  Puritans ;   their  "  pun-divinity,"  as  Charles 
Lamb  called  it.     Nor  do  I  deny  that  they  sometimes  introduced 
inconvenient   niceties  of  distinction.     Yet  even   in   respect   to 
these,  I  believe  it  may  be  taken  as  universally  true,  that  every 
distinction  arises  from  some  new  error  to  be  opposed.     The 
Apostles'   creed  sufficed,  till  Arianism  arose.     Sabellius   made 
other  distinctions  necessary,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
Some  of  the  distinctions  of  the  Reformed  Theology,  and  even 
of  our  Confession,  have  become  obsolete,  but  new  ones  have 
taken  their  place,  and  the  number  does  not  seem  to  be  lessened. 
But  the  technical  formulas  of  these  nonconformists  and  Scotch 
Presbyterians  are  not  the  things  I  w^ould  imitate.    One  good  char- 
acteristic, however,  of  this  whole  class,  I  do  wish  we  had  in 
greater  measure ;  they  not  only  held  Scripture  truth,  but  they 
associated  it  with  Scripture  language.     Their  writings  teem  with 
Bible  phrase  and  Bible  figure  ;  a  necessary  result,  m  any  age,  of 
affectionate  devotion  to  the  book.     For  this  I  love  them  ;  and, 
in  my  best  moods,  in  this  I  feel  myself  sliding  into  mutation  of 
them.     1  do  not,  I  own  it,  think  even  the  Puritan  writers,  as  a 
body,  chargeable  with  overlaying  the  truth,  or  complicating  its 
simplicity.     True,  they  pursue  doctrines  into  minute  ramifica- 
tions ;  the  necessary  consequence  of  their  dwelling  so  profoundly 
on  them.     The  general  statement  of  a  doctrine  is,  I  know,  true  ; 
it  is,  also,  more  intelligible,  and  more  fit  for  a  beginner  ;  but  the 
fault  of  modern  divinity  is  that  it  too  seldom  gets  beyond  these 
generalities.     Jay  represents  such  a  truth  as  this,  "  Christ  died  to 
save  us,"  in  a  thousand  ways,  and  each  of  them  coloured  with  some 
Scriptural  phrase,  figure,  or  example.     Some  of  us,  if  we  taught 
the   same,  would  scrupulously  avoid  every  such  vehicle,  and 
would  translate  the  Bible-diction  into  that  of  philosophic  elegance. 
The  former  I  think  most  luminous,  most  interesting  to  common 
minds,  and  most  safe.     It  is  a  great  merit  of  this  way,  that  it  is 
prized  by  our  Stuarts,  Pollocks,  and  Woodruffs,  [humble  parish- 
ioners.]    It  is  the  way  which  made  them  just  what  they  are 
If  all  our  youth  were  bred  in  this  way,  all  our  old  folks  would 


14      AVHILE   PASTOK   OF   DUANE    ST.    CIIUECH,   NEW  YOEK. 


relish  it,  as  the  Scotch  peasantry  actually  do.  The  reverse 
method,  though  simpler,  and  less  liable  to  the  charge  of  cant, 
has  never  produced  as  desirable  fruit.  And  we  must  not  take 
as  our  model  the  way  which  pleases  such  as  are,  by  the  suppo- 
sition, uninstructed.  We  must  interj^ose  some  long  words  in 
the  child's  lesson,  or  he  will  never  know  any  but  the  short  ones. 
And  I  cannot  help  thinking  it  one  of  the  chief  faults  of  the  New 
School  or  revival  era,  that  its  plan  of  teaching  had  respect  too 
exclusively  to  the  initiation  of  new  converts.  One  thing  I  more 
and  more  feel,  the  excellency  of  figures  and  illustrations  and  ex- 
amples drawn  from  the  text  of  the  Word.  To  aim  at  either 
simplicity  or  elegance,  by  avoiding  these,  leads  either  to  vague- 
ness or  dryness.     Hence  I  never  could  get  along  with  this  rule 

of  Dr. :  "  if  you  have  a  figurative  text,  explain  the  figure, 

and  then  dismiss  itP  It  is  the  secret  of  the  good  Doctor's  tame- 
ness.  By  this  rule,  all  sermons  on  Faith  will  be  the  same  ser- 
mon. I  will  send  you  shortly  two  numbers  of  "  Punch." 
Though  the  old  Adam  in  me  relishes  his  passes,  yet  I  agree  in 
what  a  very  poor  editor  lately  said  of  him,  that  it  is  bad,  week 
after  week,  to  undermine  the  veneration  of  a  people.  We  are 
too  fond  of  lauo-liiuff  at  everv  thino;.     On  the  4th  I  was  at  a 

soiree,  at .     He  is  a  McElroyalist ;  and  is  eldest  of  eight 

sons  of  a  late  clergyman  of  Glasgow.  One  of  the  ablest  lay- 
talkers  on  theological  matters.  I  met  there  Hugh  Maxwell, 
Esq.  Our  host  had  that  same  day  entertained  Dr.  McLean, 
husband  of  Miss  Landon,  L.  E.  L. ;  and  Governor  of  Cape-Coast- 
Castle  ;  said  castle  covers  several  acres.  Said  governor  is  auto- 
crat ;  and  has  condemned  as  many  as  eleven  to  death ;  he  also 
buries  and  baptizes.  A  parishioner  of  mine  spent  some  time 
in  Madeira.  He  knows  good  Dr.  Kalley.  I  have  before  me 
two  of  his  letters  ;  date  1840.  Eacts  from  them  :  He  was  bent 
on  China,  to  join  Dr.  Parker,  as  an  M.  D.  Wife's  health  pre- 
vented, and  took  him  to  Madeira,  October  1838.  In  1839  he 
went  home  and  was  ordained ;  independently,  though  a  Scotch 
Calvinist.  The  London  Missionary  Society  would  not,  however, 
take  Madeira  as  a  station.  The  Continental  (now  the  European) 
Society  also  refused.  He  began  as  M.  D.,  gave  medicine  gratis, 
prescribed.  "  During  the  last  twenty-five  days,  I  have  come  into 
contact  with  112  individuals  as  patients;  and  during  the  last 
eight  days,  forty-five  besides  patients  have  had  opportunity  to  hear 
more  or  less  of  the  word  of  God."  "  When  the  room  is  filled, 
I  take  the  Bible  and  read  a  few  verses,"  &c.,  &c.  He  mentions 
in  detail  difi"erent  classes  durino;  each  week.  "  One  of  the  most 
regular  attendants  is  a  schoolmistress,  who  has  130  scholars." 
"  One  old  woman  has  a  family  of  six,  but  till  lately  has  had 


1844—1849.  15 

nothing  of  the  Scripture  of  God  in  her  house.  I  gave  her  a 
Testament.  Next  day  she  returned,  inquiring  about  the  reward 
people  receive,  who  love  to  pray  that  they  may  be  seen  of  men, 
and  various  other  questions  about  prayer.  She  said  she  had 
spent  many  hours  in  saying  rezas^  but  never  felt  as  if  speaking 
to  God  ;  and  asked  very  earnestly  what  it  is  to  pray.  Another 
day  she  complained  that,  though  she  felt  a  toca  di  Dios  (touch 
of  God)  in  her  heart,  while  she  prayed,  it  went  away  when  she 
got  home  to  her  family  and  fazenda  ;  and  wished  to  know  if 
that  were  sin."  He  mentions  numerous  cases  of  persons  dying 
in  lively  fjiith. 

Tuesday  10. — This  morning  I  married  two  of  my  Sunday 
School  teachers  ;  this  evening  another  couple.  The  savour  of 
the  old  old-schoolism  is  not  good  here.  Many  have  never 
seen  old-schoolism  allied  to  any  zeal,  and  have  all  their  early 
associations  connected  with  new  measures.  Such  a  character 
as  McCheyne  would  be  to  them  as  out  of  nature  as  a  Centaur,. 
a  Sphynx,  or  a  Griffin.  The  new  school  of  Scotland,  pre- 
dominant in  the  Free  Church,  gives  some  occasion  to  Chal- 
mers's censure  of  their  "  nursery-endearments  of  style."  They 
have  also  much  to  learn  about  the  evils  of  unseasonable  meetings,, 
outcries,  &c.  But  they  are  in  earnest,  and  they  exalt  Christ. 
I  am  convinced  you  are  right  about  the  place  ministers  seek  to 
occupy  in  society.  One  loses  nothing,  either,  by  being  behind 
the  fashion.  Paul,  or  Luther,  or  Swartz,  would  perhaps  have 
been  poor  Mentors  about  a  visiting  card,  or  a  sack-coat.  Their 
tea-service  w^as  perhaps  humbler  than  a  Methodist's.  If  we  had 
more  men,  we  ought  to  have  more  and  smaller  churches,  and 
smaller  stipends.  I  have  seriously  proposed  to  our  clergy,  as 
we  have  no  night-meetings  for  the  young  and  strangers,  that  the 
Presbyterians  of  New  York  buy  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  and 
have  first-rate  preaching  Sunday  evenings  all  the  year  round.  It 
holds  3,000,  and  has  always  2,000,  lolioever  preaches.  The  site 
is  incomparable. 

New  York,  December  18,  1844. 
I  expect  to  be  here  all  the  holidays.  The  custom  is  for  the 
congregation,  one  and  all,  to  call  on  the  pastor  on  New  Year's 
Day,  to  eat  a  morsel,  &c. ;  I  must  of  course  be  in  place  ;  and  I 
shall  be  glad  to  have  you  to  do  some  of  the  pump-handling  for 
me.  You  will  be  particularly  welcome.  If  the  worst  comes  to 
the  worst,  and  company  from  Princeton  should  be  here,  I  know 
my  deacon  and  deaconess  will  give  you  a  chamber  in  ditto 
[Chambers]  Street,  and  I  can  answer  for  their  pie :  probatum  est,. 


16       WHILE   PASTOE    OF   DUANE    ST.    CHUECH,   NEW  TOEK. 


J 


A  sermon  in  your  pocket  will  celebrate  Tuesday  evening,  if  they 
have  a  meeting.  I  regret  to  say  that  my  attic-room  has  but 
a  dormouse-window,  but  otherwise  it  is  as  good  as  any  we 
have.  Any  how,  come  on.  The  "  Tombs "  I  now  see,  as 
I  write;  admission  free,  and  company  sociable.  My  mother 
went  this  morning.  I  write  merely  to  tell  you  to  come, 
wherefore  adieu,  and  love  to  all,  and  all  friends,  with  "  Merrie 
Christmasse." 

New  York,  January  10,  1845. 

Van  Rensselaer  is  working  here,  [for  endowment  of  Princeton 
Seminary.]  He  will  have  to  work  hard  to  get  the  $40,000  he 
has  assessed  on  our  island.  Dr.  Phillips's  church  has  given  him 
$13,000.  When  the  new  railway  to  Boston,  via  New  Haven,  is 
done,  it  will  be  a  great  thing.  They  say  already  that  its  termi- 
nus will  be  where  the  Brick  Church  stands.  To-day  I  attended 
the  funeral  of  the  only  surviving  child  of  a  new-comer.  I  was 
trying  to  light  a  lamp  at  an  expiring  fire,  when  it  breathed  its  last. 
This  evening  I  preached  a  preparatory  lecture,  from  Cant.  iv. 
16.  Seven  on  profession,  twelve  on  certificate.  The  apostles 
have  sold  the  copyright  of  the  trial,  [of  B.  T.  Onderdonk,] 
which  is  mh  ])relo.  Berrian  has  a  manual,  "  Enter  into  thy 
Closet,"  from  the  prayer-book,  and  "  ancient  litanies :"  some  beau- 
tiful prayers  in  it.  I  always  admired  the  Latin  collects  of  the 
Catholics.  The  lapse  of  ages  has  given  some  of  these  old  prayers 
a  polish,  and  rotundity,  and  denseness,  such  as  pebbles  get  in  a 
river-bed.  The  rhythm  of  the  almost  metrical  Latin  is  ex- 
quisite, and  untranslatable.  Most  of  them,  however,  are  idola- 
trous. Dr.  Hawes  has  published  a  very  simple,  touching 
sermon,  on  the  death  of  his  missionary  daughter,  Mrs.  Van 
Lennep.  Williamsburg  has  8,000  inhabitpnts ;  and  Paul  Steven- 
son, late  of  Staunton,  is  gathering  a  first  Presbyterian  church 
there.  I  am  appalled  at  the  extent  to  which  our  city  churches 
have  become  machines  for  raising  money.  Every  month  a 
stated  collection,  and  almost  weekly  calls  between-whiles.  Now, 
aside  from  any  selfish  feelings,  is  this  right  ?  Is  it  the  ideal 
of  a  true  gospel  state  %  Is  not  most  of  these  sums  given  by 
worldlings'?  Is  not  the  pecuniary  association  kept  rankling, 
to  the  hurt  of  piety  ?  These  are  questions  more  easily  asked 
than  answered.  Ecclesiastico-politico-economy  wants  an  Adam 
Smith.  More  equalization  is  certainly  one  thing  we  ought  to 
aim  at. 

It  is  rumoured  that  the  Episcopalians  are  meditating  a  revolt 
against  the  Episcopal  degradation  of  Onderdonk;  but  que  fair  el 


1844—184:9.  IT 

Do  you  know  that  Sue's  "  Wandering  Jew "  is  aimed  at  the 
Jesuits  ?  It  is  an  awful  book,  and  its  principles  are  clearly  anti- 
christian.  Hordes  of  scavengers  do  not  remove  the  ordure  and 
smell  of  our  streets.  We  have  none  of  the  great  sewers  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

1  see  a  new  book  on  the  Ruling-Elder,  by  King,  of  Scotland. 
He  seems  to  adopt  the  view  of  a  bench  of  Presbyters,  some  of 
whom  preach.  Thornwell  is  out  with  a  volume  against  the 
Apocrypha ;  it  looks  very  learned,  and  is  no  doubt  able.  He 
has  certainly  touched  the  right  string.  The  Jews  are  evi- 
dently very  uneasy.  Witness  Leeser's  "  Occident,"  and  others 
summoning  them  to  defensive  efforts ;  Noah's  Lecture ;  the 
reforms  in  Germany ;  the  prevailing  and  admitted  rationalism ; 
the  forsaking  by  many  of  their  belief  for  ages  in  a  personal 
Messiah. 

I  want  to  preach  a  sermon  on  this  subject,  viz.,  Men  of  Busi- 
ness live  in  a  perpetual  hurry,  scarcely  taking  time  to  refresh 
nature.  This  keeps  out  thoughts  of  God.  This  spell  must  be 
broken.  Fo7'  such  men,  stated  inviolable  periods  of  devotion  are 
therefore  necessary.  Apply  to  closet-prayer,  family-worship, 
and  especially  the  Sabbath.     I  feel  the  evil  as  I  never  did  before. 

Broadway  is  a  spectacle  these  sunny  mornings.     I  sat  by , 

[a  fashionable  author,]  in  an  omnibus,  to-day  ;  black,  shaggy 
sack,  plaid  pants,  gaiter-boots,  blue  and  red  neckcloth,  crook- 
danglino;  curls  like  a  Miss,  face  of  a  vinous  character.  I  have 
always  felt  serious  concern  at  the  evident  repugnance  of  a  friend 
of  ours  to  the  Tract  Society.  It  is  unfortunate,  for  the  princi- 
ple of  compromise  in  the  two  charities  is  identical.  And 
the  only  privilege  of  the  S.  S.  Union  in  the  event  of  disaster, 
will  be  that  of  "  being  devoured  last."  I  am  loth  to  say  it ;  but 
to  this  I  apprehend  it  will  come.  Even  the  New  School,  who 
spread  wide  their  no-sect  flag  in  '37,  are  now  moving  every 
thing  to  be  as  sectarian  as  possible — newspaper,  Board  of 
Publication,  complaint  about  suppression  of  Calvinism,  &c.  A 
great  protraction  of  meetings  and  revival  reported  at  Sag  Har- 
bor, L.  I.,  (Old  School.) 

New  York,  January  30,  1845. 
I  have  just  returned  from  my  weekly  prayer-meeting. 
Prayer-meetings  are  like  Jeremiah's  figs.  Where  gifts  are  rare, 
and  graces  are  small,  the  edification,  and  certainly  the  comfort, 
are  accordingly.  One  of  our  men  is  ill,  I  fear  dying.  It  is 
a  case  in  which  severe  remedies  afford  the  only  hope ;  but 
he  has  two  Homoeopathists.     Contrary  to  every  principle  avow- 


18      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DTJANE    ST.    CirUECH,   NEW  YORK. 

ed,  and  all  their  denunciation  of  "  Allopathic"  means,  they  are 
now,  when  he  is  moribund,  sivino:  stronor  medicines.  The  more  I 
see  of  them,  the  more  am  I  confirmed  in  my  belief,  that  their 
pretensions  are  those  of  systematized  charlatanry.  Bush  is  going 
over  fast  to  the  New  Jerusalem,  [Swedenborgian.]  In  the  Tri- 
bune, he  challenges  all  the  world  to  prove  the  resurrection.  He 
has  a  book  coming  out  on  the  "  Soul."  He  practises  Mesmerism. 
He  told  me  of  a  lady  who  can  read  any  one's  character  by  feel- 
ing a  paper  on  which  he  has  written  :  and  read  me  a  copy  of  his 
own  character  thus  deduced.  His  talk  is  mild,  self  complacent, 
learned,  and  fascinating.  He  has  a  man  translating  the  German 
account  of  the  famous  Clairvoyante  of  Prevorst.  You  can  im- 
agine nothing  of  the  sort  too  big  for  his  swallow.  The  coalition 
between  Mesmer  and  Swedenborg  is  becoming  patent :  both 
affect  to  see  things  beyond  the  vulgar  ken.  You  have  read  the 
account  of  young  Dr.  Bodenier's  extirpation  of  a  glandular 
parotid  tumour,  from  a  woman,  during  magnetic  sleep,  in  pres- 
ence of  Mott,  Rodgers,  Doane,  Delafield,  &c.  Come  on  and  be 
mesmerized.  I  am  strangely  obtuse,  for  I  can't  wake  up  enough 
to  see  these  things  in  the  favourable  light.  That  they  can  put 
people  asleep,  I  believe :  but  so  can  I.  McCartee  is  called  to 
the  Canal  Street  church.  You  see  that  Texas  is  all  but  annexed, 
and  the  "  area  of  freedom'^''  widened  :  N.  B.  area  is  the  Latin  for 
"  threshing-floor."  I  am  heretic  enough  to  believe,  in  very 
earnest,  that  this  very  enormity  will  be  overruled  to  the  good  of 
the  negro.  It  will  drain  IMaryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Ten- 
nessee of  their  slaves.  It  will  push  the  slave-mass  towards  the 
tropics.  There  they  may  physically  thrive ;  there  they  are 
always  happiest.  There  they  will  outgrow  their  white  holders. 
There  they  will  be  in  the  region  which  is  exempt  from  the  real  hin- 
derance  to  their  freedom,  the  prejudice  of  colour  and  caste.  In 
Mexico,  Central  America,  and  Colombia,  black  is  almost  as  good 
as  white.  Half  the  Mexican  officers  of  the  two  steamers,  whom 
I  saw,  were  one-half  or  two-thirds  Africans.  Amalgamation,  say 
what  they  please,  can  go  on,  does  go  on,  and  will  go  on.  The 
longer  we  put  off  the  national  break,  the  greater  will  be  the  Free 
America.  All  this,  I  think,  leaves  the  emancipation  question  just 
where  it  was.  But  leave  this  out  of  view,  and  what  becomes  of 
our  negroes,  slave  or  free  ?  Those  called  by  mockery  free  peo- 
ple, are  a  race  of  Helots  or  Yahoos,  in  our  estimation.  We  do 
not  give  them  our  dinners,  or  our  daughters ;  we  debar  them 
from  pulpits,  pews,  and  omnibuses  ;  we  deny  them  actual  citizen- 
ship. We  smell  their  rancid  odours,  and  hustle  them  off  our 
streets  more  vehemently  now  that  they  are  free,  than  when  they 
were  slaves.      Educate  them,  and  this  prejudice  makes  them 


1844—1849.  19 

miserable.     Look  at ,  a  sensible,  travelled,  pious  woman 

yet  hanging  between  the  two  races. 

New  York,  February  10,  1845. 

Your  letter  of  8th  to-day.  When  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives assents  to  the  new  and  reasonable  postage,  [it  was  then 
ten  cents  a  sheet,]  we  can  wa-ite  more  fully.  I  lament  wath  you 
our  friend's  troubles,  and  feel  sure  you  have  traced  them  to  their 
true  source  :  only  physical  derangement  is  usually  the  cause  of 
the  depression.  I  also  agree  with  you  as  to  what  would  be  best. 
A  southern  or  a  foreign  trip  would  probably  cure.  Such  cares 
cannot  be  thrown  off  at  home :  every  domestic  association  for- 
bids it.  Travelling  is  beyond  all  things  the  best  remedy. 
Nolens  volens,  the  patient  becomes  filled  with  new  objects.  I 
wish  you  would  tell  me  when  and  how  I  could  render  any  aid,  in 
a  case  where  I  am  so  truly  interested.  Good  old  Mr.  Fenton  ! 
[a  pious  bookseller  in  Trenton,]  I  doubt  not  he  rests  in  peace. 
We  have  a  letter  telling  us  of  Mrs.  Le  Grand's  death.  I  suppose 
I  had  no  better  friend  on  earth.  Mrs.  Le  Grand  has  been  an  ex- 
traordinary woman.  Her  views  of  her  own  religious  state  were 
always  dark  :  on  every  other  point,  no  one  could  be  less  morbid, 
or  more  clear  of  sight.  Her  conscience  and  intrepidity  exceeded 
all  I  ever  read  in  books.  1  do  not  believe  the  human  being  lived 
to  whom  she  durst  not  speak  her  mind.  Her  beneficence,  for 
sixty  years,  has  been,  so  far  as  I  know,  unexampled.  Like  most 
planters  she  had  little  ready  money  ;  but  she  has  been  a  peren- 
nial fountain  of  good  works.  She  has  washed  the  saints'  feet. 
Her  notions  of  plainness  were  extreme.  Her  personal  attire  was 
little  above  that  of  her  servants,  in  expense.  She  loved  all,  of 
every  sect,  w^ho  loved  religion ;  and  such  as  did  not,  she  exhorted 
and  warned,  in  a  way  which  shames  me  when  I  write.  She  was 
distressingly  exercised  about  slavery.  But  what  could  she  do  % 
She  often  asked  me,  but  I  was  dumb.  She  had  as  many  as 
possible  taught  to  read,  and  this  up  to  the  present  time.  A  large 
number  of  her  slaves  are  real  Christians,  not  to  speak  of  perhaps 
a  hundred  who  have  gone  to  heaven.  I  fully  believe  that  more 
of  them  have  secured  eternal  life,  than  would  have  been  the  case 
in  any  freedom  conceivable.  And  surely,  if  eternity  is  more 
than  time,  this  is  a  consideration  to  be  pondered.  But  she  saw 
no  escape ;  individual  opinion  was  inert.  She  greatly  opposed 
the  acts  of  '37,  in  the  church,  and  was  therefore  called  New 
School,  but  adhered  to  the  church.  Several  fires  last  night; 
and  they  are  serious  things,  now  that  the  streets  are  so  filled 
with  snow.     It  is  scarcely  safe  to   cross   Broadway.     Every 


20      WHILE  PASTOR   OF   DTJAlfE   ST.   CHUECH,  NEW  YORK. 

thing  on  runners ;  six  pair  of  horses  in  some  cases ,  and  such 
a  din  of  bells,  and  bellowing  of  drivers,  and  mad  rush  of  cut- 
ters and  horses,  as  confounds  one.  The  Moravians  had  their 
last  ayarr-q  and  service,  yesterday,  in  their  meek  little  chapel  in 
Fulton  street,  before  migrating  up-town.  Arnold's  Life  is  a 
bonne-bouche.  Latitudinary,  but  O,  how  fresh,  original,  vigor- 
ous, increasingly  Christian,  Catholic,  anti-puseyite,  scholarlike  !  ^ 
Our  travelled  merchants  say  our  new  Post  Office  is  the  best  in 
the  world.  You  find  yourself  in  a  well- warmed  colonnade,  and 
see  into  the  interior  hall  and  proceedings.  I  do  not  know  the 
number  of  private  boxes,  but  the  number  I  saw  was  somewhere 
about  3,000.  The  exterior  is  squat  and  Dutch.  One  of  our 
clergymen,  a  paralytic,  goes  about  the  room,  but  is  said 
to  be  a  speechless  infant,  though  comfortable.  I  can  never 
forget  seeing  another  minister  in  the  same  case :  "  And  Swift 
expires,  a  driveller  and  a  show."  Not  only  "I  w^ould  not 
live  alway,"  but  I  would  humbly  pray  not  to  live  thus.  Yet 
let  us  say,  Jlat  Voluntas  Tua,  I  see  a  desert  place  within ;  but 
I  think  eternity  is  oftener  in  my  mind  than  it  was.  For  pleasant 
views,  one  must  look  at  some  thing  more  organized  than  this 
world. 

New  York,  February  Vl^  1845. 
Speaking  of  Plutarch,  I  think  him  the  best  story-teller  out 
of  Scripture.     His  universal  popularity  shows  this.     Our  Eng- 
lish translations  are  vile  and  paraphrastic.     G.  Long,  Prof  &c., 
of  London,  has  just  issued,  as  one  of  "  Knight's  Weekly  Vol- 
umes "  a  shilling  volume  of  Roman  Lives  from  Plutarch.     The 
version  is  literal,  strong,  vivacious  ;    and  the  book  delightful. 
It  is  good  for  a  boy.     Two-thirds  of  all  we  believe  about  the 
Roman  Commonwealth  is  out  of  Plrtarch,  including  all  our 
famous  anecdotes.     Forgive  what  is  egotistic  in  the  following 
incident,  for  the  sake  of  the  little  romance  about  it,  a  quality 
not  rife  in  New  York.     This  morning  I  was  at  the  Sunday  School 
Depository  in  Nassau  Street,  when  a  little  old  woman,  cleanly, 
but  poor,  came  in,  and  in  German-English   asked   for   half   a 
dollar's  worth  of  my  Infant  Library.     I  found  they  knew  her, 
and  was  surprised  to  learn  that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  giving 
them  aioay.     I  talked  wdth  her  in  such  German  as  I  could  pro- 
duce, and  found  her  a  warm-hearted,  overflowing  Christian — a 
Lutheran  —  w^orshipping   in   Columbia   street.     But   the   thing 

1  Stanley's  Life  of  Dr.  Arnold,  reviewed  by  him  in  Repertory,  April, 
1845. 


1844—1849.  21 

which  struck  me  was,  that  she  pointed  out  to  me  her  aged  blind 
husband,  at  the  door,  holding  a  harp,  on  which  he  plays  for  his 
livelihood,  while  she  leads  him  about.  They  play  chiefly  in 
families.  The  husband,  before  his  blindness,  was  a  man  of  some 
education.  My  young  people  have  agreed  to  support  an  Evan- 
gelist in  France,  |250.  The  snow  is  rapidly  going  from  our 
broadways.  Omnibuses  on  wheels  to-day,  for  the  first.  We  have 
no  further  news  from  Charlotte,  [Mrs.  Le  Grand's  death.]  The 
more  I  reflect  on  it,  the  more  I  feel  the  solemnity  of  our  good 
friend's  departure.  My  father  lived  under  her  roof  several 
years  ;  so  did  I,  thirty  years  after.  My  first  interview  with 
my  wife  was  there.  There  also  was  my  first  ministry.  A  longer 
course  of  good  doing  (euTroua,  Heb.  xiii.)  I  never  knew.  The 
executive  part  of  Christianity  seemed  almost  perfect  in  her. 
Frugal  and  self-denying,  laborious,  constant,  independent,  fear-, 
less,  tender,  and  sympathizing.  Yet  I  have  to  add  this  remark- 
able fact :  during  all  her  life,  she  knew  nothing  of  comfortable 
frames.  She  was  always  panic-struck,  in  view  of  the  standard 
she  had  set  up ;  and  so  she  judged  others.  Her  mind  was 
always  under  the  stress  of  obligation.  Yet  a  more  operative 
religion  could  scarcely  be  pictured.  She  was  alw\ays  the  same — 
always  taking  the  religious  view  of  things — sober,  vigilant, 
looking  to  the  judgment.  No  man  seemed  to  have  left  such  an 
impress  on  her  as  her  old  pastor,  John  Blair  Smith ;  and  he 
was  a  John  the  Baptist ;  opposite,  in  all  but  eloquence,  to  his 
brother  S.  Stanhope  Smith.  This  grave,  somewhat  hard  and 
unforbearing  type  of  religion,  appears  in  all  the  fruits  of  the 
great  Revival,  which  founded  our  church  in  that  part  of  Vir- 
ginia. Plainness  in  dress,  expenditure,  and  manner,  was  in* 
dispensable  to  the  Christian  character.^ 


New  York,  February  27,  1845. 
My  boys  are  both  in  bed  with  the  measles.  The  younger 
has  a  very  bad  cough.  In  these  circumstances  I  am  a  nursing 
father,  and  have  risen  from  a  bed  of  small  slumbers.  This 
always  depresses  my  animal  powers.  Some  things  in  my 
labours  are  encouraging.  Three  are  propounded  for  com- 
munion, on  profession  of  faith.  A  few  are  under  concern 
of  mind.  Seven  female  Sunday  School  teachers,  who  meet 
for  prayers,  seem  well  exercised.  One  of  them,  besides  regu- 
lar Sunday  School   duty,  has   all   her  class,  two  hours,  every 

*  Among  other  legacies  Mrs.  Le  Grand  bequeathed  $2,000  to  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  of  Virginia,  and  $1,000  to  Mr.  Alexander. 


22      WHILE  PASTOE  OF  DUANE   ST.   CHTJECH,  NEW  TOEK. 

Saturday,  for  instruction.  For  five  years  she  has  taught  a 
class  of  six  poor  girls,  from  9 — 12,  Jive  days  in  the  week,  at 
her  own  house.  On  my  proposing  that  our  young  men  and 
young  women  should  sustain  an  Evangelist  in  France,  she  raised 
$164  in  a  week. 

I  have  lectured  to  Heh.  iv.  11.     Tlie  next  passage  is  a  crux 

interpretum,     I  spent   a   pleasant  evening  with  Bro.  ,  the 

Moravian.  About  37;  healthy,  ruddy,  vivacious,  with  that 
happy  "  no  manner,"  which  is  common  to  Moravians  and  noblesse, 
and  that  absence  of  sanctimony  which  is  uncommon  among 
Puritan  Christians  ;  more  marked  by  quickness  and  hilarity,  than 
tenderness  or  pensive  gravity.  He  was  a  missionary  in  Antigua. 
One  of  our  pastors  tells  me  that  he  does  not  pretend  to  visit  any 
but  emergent  cases.  I  see  more  and  more  how  naturally  and  ne- 
cessarily a  man  comes  to  this.  I  have  been  engaged,  late  and 
early,  every  day,  and  have  not  yet  effected  a  thorough  visitation, 
though  I  have,  for  this,  sacrificed  almost  all  writing  of  new  sermons. 
One  of  our  ministers  avows  the  opinion,  that,  in  such  a  society 
as  ours,  the  pulpit  is  the  great  engine.  Accordingly,  he  spends 
every  day  from  8 — 3  in  his  study,  not  answering  knocks  before  1. 
Most  of  this  time  he  is  sermonizing.  He  writes  one  fresh 
sermon  every  week,  and  says  he  has  not  failed  to  have  it  done 
by  noon,  on  Saturday,  once  in  ten  years.  He  has  a  series  of 
sermons,  on  the  system  of  doctrines,  which  he  has  delivered 
three  times.  He  is  always  catering  for  a  sermon ;  all  his  con- 
versation is  on  the  topic  he  is  about,  and  it  is  therefore  stimulat- 
ing and  instructive.  He  has  had  an  unparalleled  hold  on  his 
people,  and  influence  over  them.  They  visit  him  a  good  deal  in 
his  study.  He  is  the  airiest,  youngest  man,  of  his  years,  1  know 
anywhere.  Another  pastor  always  goes  out  (when  well)  on  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  and  Wednesday.  On  these  days  he  has  no  fire  in 
his  study.  The  remaining  days  he  se^s  no  one ;  gives  himself 
to  study  ;  but  never  writes  any.  Did  I  tell  you  that  I  was  co- 
pulpited  with  good  Mr.  [the  late  Dr.  John]  Johnston,  who 
preached  the  installation   sermon?     It   was   read,  every  word, 

40  minutes,  and  filled  just  |f  of  a  sheet  like  this  !     S is  a 

grand  fellow,  good  sense,  gravity,  suavity,  independence,  honesty, 
kindness,  every  thing  but  animation.  Consternation  in  our 
church,  by  reason  of  a  base-vile,  last  Sabbath.  O  that  w^e  could 
chant  the  psalms,  in  a  selection,  as  they  are  !  .  Jacobus  [Brook- 
lyn] does  it,  at  times.  C.  S.  Stewart  is  very  active.  As  many 
as  100  converts  among  sailors  reported  this  winter.  Good  text, 
1  John  iv.  5. 


1844:— 184:9.  23 

New  York,  March  10,  1845. 
How  do  you  feel  this  morning,  after  the  unrest  of  the  Sab- 
bath 1  I  own  to  a  little  megrim,  for  yesterday  was  our  Com- 
munion. Three  on  confession,  of  whom  one,  a  painter,  and  the 
other  a  lithographer ;  both  born  in  England,  as  was  the  third 
also.  The  book-cheapening  business  is  poor  here.  I  miss  two 
of  my  old  pleasures,  (1)  shops  like  Redman's,  [a  second-hand 
book  shop  in  Philadelphia,]  and  (2)  rows  of  old  standard  books. 
The  auctions  have  revived  the  first,  and  the  two  weekly  steamers 
the  other.  Ask  for  such  a  book  as  Witsius,  and  the  answer  is  : 
"  No,  but  we  will  take  your  order,  and  have  it  in  a  month." 
Kernott  (Wiley's  factotum,  a  Pater  Noster  man)  says  :  "  We 
try  to  have  all  fresh  works,  but  to  keei^  none."  After  twenty 
years,  I  say  decidedly,  "  No  comment,  no  lexicon,  like  a  Greek 
concordance ;  "  i.  e.  if  you  ponder  the  contexts.  Take  such  a 
word  as  /xerai'oia,  or  ixvcrr-qpLov  ;  and  how  the  conventional  mean- 
ings fly  away  !  How  odd  that  we  learn  to  write  English  from 
Scotchmen ;  viz.,  Kaimes,  Campbell,  and  Blair.  After  teaching 
them  ten  years,  I  am  just  learning  how  they  have  betrayed  me. 
Eear  of  provincialisms  drives  them  (as  us  Americans)  into 
prudery ;  just  as  parvenus  dare  not  dress  plain.  Think  of 
Blair's  nonsense  about  the  evil  of  ending  a  sentence  with  a 
particle  !  E  contra,  read  Shakspeare's  "  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  /o," 
or  the  sentence  cited  by  Lord  J.  Russell,  "  Shall  there  be  a  God 
to  swear  bij,  and  none  to  pray  to  ?  "  Pascal  had  the  courage  to 
break  through  the  French  rules  of  his  day.  He  says,  (golden 
words  !)  "  Masquer  la  nature,  et  la  deguiser  :  plus  de  '  roi,' 
de  '  pape,'  d'eveques,  mais  auguste  moriarqtie,  etc.  II  y  a  des 
lieux  ou  il  faut  appeler  Paris,  Paris ;  et  d'autres  ou  il  le  faut 
appeler  capitale  de  royaume."  And  better  still,  about  having 
the  same  words  over  again  :  "  Quand,  dans  un  discours  se  trou- 
vent  des  mots  repetes,  et  qu' essay  ant  de  les  corriger,  on  les 
trouve  si  propres  qu'on  gaterait  le  discours,  il  les  faut  laissery 
Macaulay  has  found  this  out.  Johnson  and  Gibbon  ruined  us 
about  this.  After  all  the  thousand  disputes  about  2  Pet.  i.  20, 
I  think  all  difficulty  removed,  by  translating  iStas  literally  :  "  no 
Scripture-prophecy  is  of  its  oivn  interpretation ; "  i.  e.  it  does 
not  explain  itself.  And  see  how  exactly  this  suits  the  context : 
"  FOR  prophecy  came  not  by  mail's  will  (as  if  the  prophet  so 
originated  it,  as  to  give  us  means  of  exposition  in  his  words)  but 
by  God's  will — by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Even  the  Vulgate  has 
"  propria  interpretatione."  Apropos  of  which,  the  collation  of 
the  Vulgate  is  useful,  to  show  us  traditional  errors  in  our  inter- 
pretation. I  find  no  common  error  more  growing  among  our 
young  people,  than  that  men  are  not  responsible  for  what  they 


24      WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DUAITE    ST.   CHUECH,   NEW  YOEK. 

believe.  This  is  the  dogma  of  Brougham,  Mackintosh,  and 
Bailey.  We  should  preach  against  it :  Prov.  xiv.  12.  If  Lalor 
lives,  give  him  my  love,  and  please  to  read  John  xvii.,  or  a  part, 
to  him,  as  my  best  message.  Also,  in  regard  to  his  being  cut 
off  from  expected  earthly  service,  dwell  on  the  word  "  serve,"  in 
Rev.  xxii.  3.^  A  unitarian  pair  have  been  offended,  and  walk 
no  more  with  us.  Qu.  Up  to  ivhat  age  should  we  baptize  chil- 
dren of  parents  coming  into  the  church?  The  usage  of  this 
church  answers,  To  seven  years.  Potts  and  I  exchanged  on  the 
2d.  His  church  to  be  done  inside  in  May.  It  is  a  beautiful 
interior.  Capt.  Auchincloss  sails  on  the  12th  for  Tarragona. 
Our  clerical  meeting  goes  on;  a  Question  and  skeleton  each 
time.  Thus  far,  Spring,  Snodgrass,  Potts,  Lowrie,  Krebs,  Jaco- 
bus, and  Stevenson. 

New  York,  March  19,  1845. 
I  have  been  at  a  wedding ;  but  do  not  ascribe  any  subsequent 
brilliancy  to  the  potations,  for  the  lemonade  was  very  thin. 
They  waited  for  me  to  give  the  signal ;  so  we  sat  a  good  hour ; 
I  thinking  every  creaking  of  the  door  would  bring  in  the  pallid 
pair.     At  length  one  of  the  children  of  the  bridechamber  set  me 

right,  and  I  summoned  the  parties.     As  you  anathematize 's 

wrappings,  while  you  wear  gum  shoes  yourself,  so  I  detest  his 
a-the-ism,  while  I  repudiate  coffee  most  virtuously.  I  hope  you 
will  button  up  till  you  get  quit  of  your  cold,  for  the  March  is 
searching.  The  rise  of  Pennsylvania-fives  has  killed  Sidney 
Smith.  Buxton  is  no  more.  Wellington  has  lost  his  brother 
Mornington.  Smyth's  book  against  Confirmation  is  nearly  out ; 
with  an  Appendix,  almost  as  long  as  the  book,  defending  the 
public  aisle-profession,  and  anxious-stand,  of  new-communicants. 
I  have  thought,  for  a  good  while,  that  any  Christians  might  law- 
fully celebrate  the  Communion ;  though,  as  a  municipal  regula- 
tion, a  restriction  like  ours  seems  needful,  to  repress  bold  spirits 
and  promote  discipline.  I  thought  you  would  like  Arnold. 
The  account  of  his  death  is  graphic.  I  long  to  read  his  histories. 
He  has  shown  how  great  a  study  history  may  be  made.  If  he 
had  lived  a  little  longer,  I  think  he  would  have  got  better.  His 
portrait  is  noble.  My  lectures  on  Hebrews  give  me  more  and 
more  comfort ;  and  I  am  pleased  to  observe  an  increased  attend- 
ance of  men.  Looking  back — for  I  have  now  passed  the  XL — I 
lament  many  things  in  my  preaching ;  and  among  these  that  I 
have  not  from  the  beginning  aimed  at  the  greatest  subjects.     Two 

^  Jeremiah  D.  Lalor,  a  candidate  for  the  ministry.    He  had  died  in  Tren- 
ton two  days  before  tliis  message  was  written. 


1844—1849.  25 

things  keep  us  from  this :  1,  a  diffidence  about  treating  them, 
because  they  are  great ;    2,  a  dislike  to  topics  which  seem  so 
familiar.     By  the  great  topics,  I  mean,  not  the  outworks  of 
Christianity,  but  the  citadel ;    the  Fall,  the  Atonement,  Faith, 
Judgment."    The  same  remark  applies  to  the  famous  parts  of 
Scripture,  the  Crucifixion,  the  Good  Samaritan,  the  Ten  Vir- 
gins, &c.     We  are  in  danger,  from  neglect  of  this,  of  passing 
our   short   lives   in  frittering  away  at  the  appendages  of  the 
Gospel.     I  am  much  delighted  with  old  John  Brown's  Explana- 
tion of  the  Catechism.     My  catechetical  class  delights  me  more 
and  more.     I  wish  I  could  hope  as  much  from  my  sermons. 
When  I  compare  professor  with  professor,  what  a  difference 
between  those  who  were  taught  early,  and  those  who  were  not ! 
I  am  much  touched  at  reading  in  Socrates's  Ecc.  History,  the  old 
story,  remembered  from  my  childhood,  of  Origen's  fither,  who 
used  to  uncover  the  bosom  of  his  sleeping  boy,  and  kissing  it, 
say,   "It   is   a   temple   of   the   Holy  Ghost."     Insert  in  your 
Almanac,  (for  May  and  onwards,)  about  this  time  expect  a  display 
of  gown — and — hands.     The  Church  of  the  Pilgrims,  at  Brook- 
lyn, is  to  have  (on  dit)  a  series  of  painted  windows,  representing 
the  "  gests  "   of   the  paint-hating  pilgrims.     Day  by  day  do  I 
quakerize  about  these  things,  priesthood,  paraphernalia,  pomps. 
But  riches  begets  ceremony,  as  surely  as  dung  begets  weeds,  and 
blue  flowers  among  the  wheat.     Would  the  apostles  know  their 
own  children?     Would  that  by  some  turn  of  the  wheel  we  could 
see  a  Puritanism  without  sanctimony,  without  stickling,  without 
fierceness,  and  without  bigotry  !     I  sometimes  think,  with  Arnold, 
that  Christ  will   throw  all    our  exciting  church-forms  into  the 
crucible,  to  produce  a  new  form  out  of  the  molten  mass.     Before 
I  got  your  rescript,  I  had  baptized  the  girl  (at.  13 1)  against  the 
immemorial  usage  of  St.  Duane ;  especially  moved  to  it,  as  the 
child  had  been  withheld  from  her  right  by  the  pressing  of  a 
false  scruple,  a  scruple  inconsistent,  I  think,  with  our  hypothesis 
of  household  baptism.     But  O  how  we  neglect  that  ordinance  ! 
treating  children,  in  the  church,  just  as  if  they  were  out  of  it. 
Ought  we  not  daily  to  say  (in  its  spirit)  to  our  children,  "  You 
are^  Christian  children,  you  are  Christ's,  you  ought  to  think  and 
feel  and  act  as  such  ! "     And,  on  this  plan,  carried  out,  might  we 
not  expect  more  early  fruit  of  grace,  than   by  keeping  them 
always  looking  forward  to  a  point  of  time  at  which  they  shall 
have  new  hearts  and  join  the  church  ?     I  am  distressed  with  long- 
harboured  misgivings  on  this  point.     Read  our  Directory,  chap, 
ix.  §  1,  Avhat  a  dead  letter  !     I  fear  thousands  perish,  indirectly, 
from  within  the  communion,  from  our  and  their  overrating  the 
church-judgment  of  their  piety  ;  and  from  confounding  full  coni- 

VOL.  II. — 2 


26      WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUAl^E   ST.   CHUECH,    NEW   YOEK. 


5 


munion  with  experience  of  renewing  grace.  All  the  epistles 
seem  written  to  the  church ;  yet  how  full  of  searching  tests,  as 
to  personal  piety.  When  a  preacher  addresses  (1)  saints  and 
(2)  sinners,  all  of  the  former  is  commonly  taken  by  professors, 
as  such.  There  seems  really  to  be  a  great  revival  of  the  old 
seed,  in  Holland.  Ferris  told  me  some  pleasant  things  about 
this.  I  had  a  present  to-day  of  a  share  in  the  Society  Library, 
where,  a  few  steps  off,  I  can  see  all  the  periodicals,  home  and 
foreign,  and  a  tolerable  collection  of  books.  Take  care  of  your 
cold,  and  believe  me  yours,  James  Duane. 

New  York,  April  2,  1845. 
I  have  had  a  turn  of  vertigo,  which  would  not  have  deserved 
mention,  if  it  had  not  seized  me  in  the  pulpit.     I  was  myself 
again  for  the  afternoon,  and  am  much  as  usual ;  though  I  think  I 
have  run  rather  too  long  without  considering  the  need  of  a  breath- 
ing-spell.    Your  argument  against  systematizing  I  do  not  admit ; 
I  mean  that  from  the  truth  that  all  the  Bible  runs  up  into  two 
great  principles  :    for  it  is   the  glory  of  all  systems  to  admit 
this  ;  and  it  is  as  true  of  astronomy,  and  other  sciences  ;  and  it 
proves  too  much,  for  it  would  not  only  destroy  systems,  but 
sermons   and   the   Bible   itself.     I   have   at   last   been   readinfj 
"  Froude's  Remains."     He  is  the  true  leader  of  the  Newmanites ; 
but  one  thing  explains  all,  he  had  no  glimpse  of  true  religion. 
His  whole  diary  contains  no  allusion  to  Christ !     Newman,  the 
Editor,  admits  this  ;  and  expains  it  in  some  transcendental  way. 
Bush  has  preached  for  Bellows  ;  his  name  will  consort  with  the 
other  fuel — Greenwood^  Sparks,  Burnaj),  Furncss,  &c.,  [all  Uni- 
tarian preachers.]     He  leans  most,  however,  to  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem.    Cheever  begins  to  coruscate  in  the  Evangelist ;  he  will 
not  join  against  the  Tract  Society,  with  Cox,  Patton,  McLean, 
Eddy  &  Co.     I  am  about  to  get  Carter  to  print  McCheyne's 
scheme  for  reading  through  the  Old  Testament  once,  and  the 
New  Testament  twice  in  the  year.     It  includes  family  worship 
as  well  as  private  reading,  and  the  table  will  do  to  hang  up,  or 
paste  in  a  book ;  though  as  he  issued  it,  it  is  a  pamphlet,  with 
remarks.      Way  land   has,   you   know,   had   a   controversy   on 
slavery,  with  Dr.  Fuller  of  S.  C.     It  is  out  in  a  brochure,  and  is 
very  readable.     We  have  had  many  rebuffs,  in  seeking   new 
members  of   session.     It  will  probably  stand  thus  :    Elders — 
Mr.  Walker,  Mr.  Jennings,  and  Dr.  McLean  ;  Deacons — Mr.  T. 
\].  Smith,  Mr.  Burchard,  and  Mr.  Greenough.     Having  gone  over 
all  the  accessible  members  of  my  charge,  in  visiting,  I  have  a 
residuum  of  30 — 40,  concerning  whom  I  can  scarcely  get  any 
information.     Every  week  brings  in  some  new  family,  or  indi- 


1844—1849.  27 

vidual  to  increase  the  task.  At  my  lecture,  the  number  of  men 
greatly  preponderates ;  young  men  chiefly.  My  catechizing 
class  holds  at  about  50.  Our  collections  are  encouraging,  but 
not  a  tithe  of  what  is  due.     Since  I  came,  we  have  received  about 

$900  for  foreign  missions.     is  our  chief-giver ;    he  is  a 

broker,  and  knows  how  to  let  money  go  out  gracefully.  I  have 
not  met  five  undeniable  Quakers  among  the  world  of  people  in  my 
walks  ;  one  would  think  Philadelphia  visiters  would  furnish  more 
than  this.  I  am  au  desesijoir  about  psalmody.  The  best  I  ever 
heard  was  in  a  German  church,  hard  by,  where  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  joined  con  fuoco.  I  am  in  favour  of  chanting 
prose-psalmody,  ivithout  repeats  ;  they  do  it  at  Jacobus's.  Also, 
I  am  more  in  the  notion  of  a  plain,  unartificial,  somewhat  slow, 
chant-like  music.  Even  the  best  choirs  I  hear,  affect  me  thus : 
my  mind  is  too  much  attracted  to  the  individual,  or  insulated 
performance.  Seriously,  I  hope  for  nothing  in  our  day.  What 
they  call  fine  music  here,  is  orchestral.  The  Methodists  sing 
all,  but  then  I  am  put  out  with  the  jiggish  melodies.  I  wish 
we  had  the  Apostles'  Creed  in  our  Liturgy,  as  we  have  it 
(though  nobody  seems  to  know  it)  in  our  Confession,  &c.  Dr. 
Wilson  once  lectured  on  it ;  and,  if  he  lives,  another  Doctor 
probably  will.  I  also  wish  the  Lord's  Prayer  reinstated.  I  am 
also  for  a  vestry,  but  not  for  vestments ;  I  am  also  for  the  old 
table  in  the  communion.  What  a  blessing  it  would  be  if  we 
could  have  more  preachers,  smaller  churches,  and,  of  course, 
more  of  them  !  With  grief  and  anxiety  I  see  that,  if  I  do  any 
study  whatever,  my  utmost  parochial  visiting  amounts  to  little. 
Our  ministers  must  be  more  active  in  concerted  plans  for  increas- 
ing the  efficiency  of  church-measures,  by  new  methods  within 
each  parish.  The  crying  evil  is,  strength  in  the  laity  is  not 
brought  out ;  we  are  an  army  in  which  all  the  battle  is  done  by 
the  commissioned  officers.  We  are  tolerably  well,  and  send 
salutatories.     Greet  the  friends  by  name. 

New  York,  April  17,  1845. 
I  do  not  know  that  I  have  ever  been  in  a  busier  week.  Be- 
sides more  patients  than  common,  and  usual  parish  cares,  we 
have  had  the  presbytery  these  three  days ;  have  talked  the  or- 
dinary twaddle  on  points  of  order,  and  have  licensed  nine  proba- 
tioners. Last  evening,  I  took  tea  with  Mr.  Griffin,  and  met  Mr. 
Bremmer,  (?)  late  Mayor  of  Boston,  and  Mrs.  Sigourney,  who 
is  sojourning  with  the  Griffins.  She  is  free  from  any  the  least 
pretension,  and  shines  in  my  eye  far  more  in  private  than  in  her 
books.  I  have  never  talked  with  a  more  sensible  or  a  more 
unassuming  woman.     Benj.  Richards  is  here  with  two  daughters 


28      WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUAJSTE   ST.   CHUKCH,   NEW  YOEK. 

of  Gov.  McDowell  of  Virginia.  Item  Dr.  Sprague,  item  Kirk, 
item  ]\Iahon,  item  two  Hamraills,  item  Miss  Reid  of  Va.,  (chez 
nous,)  item  Mr.  Lacy,  (chez  nous,)  item  Miss  Rice,  (cliez  nous.) 
Cheever  has  yet  to  show,  whether  a  fine  essayist  is  necessarily  a 
good  editor.  Paragraphing  is  an  art  by  itself :  his  rhetorical  cir- 
cuits are,  I  judge,  not  the  thing  :  non  tempus  eget^  &;c.,  &c.     

reappears,  plenished  with  new  layers  of  adipose  matter.  Old 
Mr.  Johnston  avers  that,  in  Scotland,  it  is  universally  the  case 
that  a  minister  who  demits  his  pastoral  charge  ipso  facto  loses 
his  "  status "  in  the  Presbytery.  The  new  Congregational 
Church  of  "  the  Pilgrims "  in  Brooklyn,  is  a  noble,  massive 
affair,  w^ith  wealthy,  aspiring  people :  it  will  be  a  great  chance 
for  somebody.  The  oftener  I  go  to  Brooklyn,  the  more  I  admire 
the  site.  The  view  from  the  "  Heights  "  is,  I  am  sure,  more 
than  Neapolitan,  and  the  air  is  freshness  itself.  It  is  quiet  and 
cool,  like  the  country,  and  nearer  to  New  York  business  than 
Bond  Street,  to  say  nothing  of  University  Place.  Therefore, 
name  your  price,  abjure  presbytery,  take  the  palmer's  gown  and 
scallop  shell  of  a  pilgrim,  show  your  descent  from  Jack  Robin- 
son, affect  cod-fish  and  baked  beans,  keep  Saturday  evening,  and 
prepare  for  having  read  to  you,  through  spectacles,  an  eloquent 
"  right-hand-of-fellowship."  Bacon  preached  on  Tuesday,  in  the 
Tabernacle,  at  Thomson's  installation.  I  have  been  several  times 
to  see  [David]  Abeel,  who  is  in  the  precincts  of  heaven,  in  re- 
gard to  his  feelings.  His  lungs  are  almost  gone.  Our  com- 
missioners [to  General  Assembly]  are  Goldsmith  and  Krebs, 

Piatt  and  Baldwin.     is  just  fitting  out  his  eldest  boy  for 

a  mercantile  post  in  China.  He  is  a  faithful  minister,  and  a 
most  worthy  companion ;  unaffected,  unpretending,  well-informed, 
and  judicious.  I  made  some  "  improvement "  of  Dr.  Milnor's 
death,  and  of  the  loss  of  the  Sw^allow.  Kidder  is  nearly  out 
with  his  two  volumes  on  Brazil.  My  honoured  father  is  73 
this  day.  Should  I  say  this,  without  adding  that  I  know  how 
ungrateful  my  habitual  state  of  mind  is,  for  such  a  favour  as  the 
preserved  life  of  my  parents,  until  now  1  I  have  adopted  the 
plan  of  writing  a  monthly  letter  to  my  associated  Young  Men. 
Should  I  see  next  year,  I  propose  to  print  a  little  monthly  sheet, 
to  be  put  in  the  pews,  containing  such  statements  as  may  bear 

on  our  missions,  church   condition,  collections,  &c.     ,  the 

poet,  has  a  volume  in  the  press  ;  I  have  not  seen  any  of  it.     It 

is   underwritten   by , ,   &c.,   &;c.      Whether    he   will 

alight  on  Zion  or  Parnassus,  may  depend  on  the  market  he  finds. 
Bush  is  in  the  straw",  with  an  answer  to  Skimier,  and  a  work  on 
the  Soul.  He  has  now  got  Bellows  to  blow  him  up.  There  is 
no  great  preacher  here  among    the  Episcopalians.      The  last 


1844— 1849.  29 

"  Punch  "  pictures  Pusey  and  the  Pope,  in  a  most  loving  hug. 
The  "Pictorial  Times"  gives  serious  likenesses  of  Pusey,  Ward, 
&c.  The  Infidels  are  becoming  bold,  and  have  summoned  an 
Infidel  Convention,  under  that  name.  They  seem  to  think  the 
new  Geology  upsets  Moses.  Tayler  Lewis  is  coming  out  with 
"  Plato  contra  Atheos,"  with  dissertations.     I  suppose  he  is  as 

much  steeped  in  the  Greeks,  as  any  man  living.     So  poor 

has  had  to  go.     Why  did  he  not  stick  to  his  Episcopal  see  at 

1      Will   not have   a  sort   of  "  proximus-Ucalegon- 

ardet  "  feeling  about  it  ?  What — what  is  the  matter  1  some- 
thing is  surely  wrong  with  us.  Is  it  that  we  are  all  too  stiff", 
unreal,  formal,  routine-ish,  in  our  ministry  ?  Is  it  that  we  copy 
others  1  that  we  do  not  copy  primitive  ways  1  that  we  do  not 
act  out  our  Bible-persuasions  1  that  we  are  cowardly  about  the 
world  ?  that  we  seek  the  subordinate  church  and  congregational 
ends,  instead  of  the  principal  ones?  Whatever  it  be,  our 
churches  are  in  a  heavy,  slow  state ;  wheels  deep  in  ruts  and 
mud.  Our  preaching,  I  feel  it,  is  too  little  like  earnest  talking ; 
we  are  too  unlike,  in  and  out  of  the  "  sacred  desk."  Old  Dr. 
Wilson,  with  "  a  gill  of  lightning  into  him,"  would  be  the  thing 
for  the  pulpit,  and  Commodore  Eastburn  [the  Mariners'  Min- 
ister] out  of  it. 

New  York,  April  28,  1845. 

Monday  is  an  ill  day  for  letter-writing.  I  have  no  chance 
to  say  any  thing.  I  praught  for  Read  [Pearl  Street  Church]  yes- 
terday ;  a  good  quiet  congregation.  Thompson  has  immense 
audiences  in  the  Tabernacle ;  he  is  said  to  be  a  good  preacher, 
but  of  New  Haven  divinity. 

There  is  some  small-pox  in  town ;  ten  cases  mortal  last  week. 

The  Bowery-burning  [theatre]  was  superb ;   we  had  a  fine 
view  of  the  pillar  of  fire, 
domus-  ) 

The  Anni-  >•  versaries  are  on  the  approach.  I  will  freely 
caput- ) 
say,  their  original  interest,  for  me,  is  gone.  They  feel  this  ;  and 
sermons  are  reviving  again.  But  even  sermons,  like  Samsons, 
lose  their  strength.  Religious  showmanism  is  the  order  of  the 
day  ;  a  church,  an  organ,  a  poll  of  hair,  a  neat  stock,  a  ditto 
hand,  a  gown  ;  these  are  thy  gods,  O  Israel ! 

I  am  in  some  thought  of  gathering  a  few  of  the  remnant  of 
Quakerism,  to  form  a  new  society.  The  succession  may  be  se- 
cured through  Gurney,  quite  as  well  as  Abp.  Parker's,  at  the 
Nag's  head. 

— —  lectures  on  Babylon  on  Friday ;  a  good  selection ;  he 


30      WHILE  PASTOR  OF   DUANE   ST.   CHUECHj  NEW  YOEK. 

will  speak  all  the  tongues,  with  a  little  original  confusion  of  his 
own  babble.  Visiters  knock  and  ring  "  frae  morn  till  e'en." 
Addison  says  I  should  practise  self-denial — at  the  door. 

Yours  almost  in  the  cab. 

White  Street,  May  3,  1845. 
My  epistolary  hours  must  be  snatches.     I  am  glad  you  have 
with  you.     I  hope  she  will  open  her  eye  wide  to  all  the 


gracious  goodness  that  is  the  very  life  and  soul  of  the  new  dis- 
pensation. You  say  right  about  praying  for  earthly  good. 
That  is  a  great  verse,  Matthew  vi.  32.  Eeading  a  book  of 
prayers,  (a  kind  of  book,  by-the-bye,  which  I  find  I  much  need, 
at  certain  moods,)  by  one  Hardman,  and  admiring  the  same 
very  much,  I  was  struck  with  this  in  his  Prefece  :  "  Should  any 
persons  think  them  too  spiritual,  or  experimental,  they  are  re- 
quested, first,  to  consider,  that  temporal  blessings  can  never  be 
asked  for,  but  conditionally,  and  secondarily  to  spiritual,"  &;c. 
The  article  on  Pascal  in  the  April  Pvepertory  is  Addison's. 

I  am  more  and  more  persuaded,  that  a  man  who  walks  "  in 
the  Spirit,"  must  often  seem  to  himself  and  others  to  walk  alone. 
I  mean  he  must  follow  leadings  towards  paths  of  feeling  and 
conduct,  remote  from  the  precedent  and  fashion  even  of  good 
people.  Don't  we  find  things,  in  Christ's  teachings,  which,  if  all 
our  books,  and  human  patterns,  and  diaries  Avere  forgotten, 
would  lead  us  further  and  in  other  directions  than  we  have  gone? 
and  is  not  this  accompanied  with  an  inward  feeling,  that  what  is 
thus  indicated  is  true,  and  right,  and  sanctifying  ?  In  regard  to 
the  care  of  souls,  I  am  constrained,  after  trial,  to  give  over  wear- 
ing other  men's  clothes,  however  much  better  than  my  own.  I 
have  found  pain  and  barrenness  in  every  attempt  to  do  things 
by  the  approved  methods  for  getting  up  "an  interest,"  &c. 
Truths,  found  in  Scripture,  and  affecting  my  own  mind,  freshly, 
strongly,  and  as  it  were  newly,  I  mean  coming  to  me,  after  fre- 
quent perusals,  as  living  words  of  God,  verifying  themselves  in 
my  experience,  are  those  which,  when  simply  spoken  or  preached, 
seem  to  reach  other  people.  Suppose  the  result  is  not  the 
awakening  of  A  B,  or  of  anybody  on  the  spot ;  suppose  no  re- 
vival ensues  :  my  growing  judgment  is,  that  the  utterance  of 
such  truths  will  accomplish  God's  end  on  his  elect :  "  for  they 
know  His  voice."  Surely,  in  our  craving  for  effect,  wx  lose  the 
value  of  such  remarkable  passages  as  John  x.  27  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  2, 
3  ;  2  Thess.  ii.  10.  Simplicity,  in  following  Christ  as  a  teacher, 
is  worthy  of  our  consideration. 

I  am  led  to  think  I  have  erred,  in  the  direction  of  ultra-prot- 
estantism, in  regard  to  fasting  ;  when  I  look  out  the  connexions 


1844—1849.  31 

of  the  word  and  thing  in  the  New  Testament.  A  favourite  no- 
tion of  mine  is  that  a  church  is  a  school.  As  you  may  not  have 
Owen,  let  me  extract  a  passage  on  Hebrews  v.  11-15,  which 
pleased  me  the  more  from  coming  from  a  source  whence  I  did 
not  expect  it :  "  Our  hearers  do  not  look  upon  it  as  their  duty 
to  learn  to  be  Teachers.  They  think  it  enough  for  them,  if  at 
best  they  can  hear  with  some  profit  to  themselves.  But  this 
was  not  the  state  of  things  in  primitive  times.  Every  church 
was  then  a  Seminary,  wherein  provision  and  preparation  was 
made,  not  only  for  the  continuation  of  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel in  itself,  but  for  the  calling,  gathering,  and  teaching  of  other 
churches  also.  When  therefore  a  church  was  first  planted  by 
the  ministry  of  the  apostles,  it  was  for  a  time  continued  under 
their  own  immediate  care  and  inspection,  and  then  usually  com- 
mitted by  them  unto  the  ministry  of  some  evangelists."  Then 
overseers.  "  Upon  their  decease,  others  were  to  be'  called  and 
chosen  from  among  themselves  to  the  same  work  by  the  church." 
"  And  men  in  those  days  did  not  only  learn  in  the  church,  that 
they  might  be  able  afterwards  to  teach  in  the  same,  but  also 
that  they  might  be  instrumental  in  the  work  of  the  gospel  in 
other  places.  For  out  of  these  churches  went  those  who  were 
made  use  of  in  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  ordinarily" — 
"  wherefore  hearers  in  the  church  were  not  only  taught  those 
things  which  might  be  sufficient  unto  their  own  edification,  but 
every  thing  also  that  was  necessary  to  the  edification  of  others ; 
an  ability  for  whose  instruction  was  their  duty  to  aim  it." 
(Owen  on  Heb.  c.  v.,  verse  12.)  All  our  missionary  gifts  will 
fall  short,  unless  people  come  to  give  their  own  selves  first  unto 
the  Lord  ;  in  some  such  sense.  Monday  5. — Holy  Week  [Anni- 
versaries] has  begun.  White  cravats  swarm  ;  chiefly  from  New 
England,  of  which  this  is  the  capital.  The  Biblical  Repository 
for  May  contains  a  racy  McClelland-like  article  on  South,  by 
Withington.  Henry's  Calvin,  which  I  gutted  for  the  Repertory 
years  ago,  is  made  much  of  in  a  similar  article  in  the  Repository 
as  bran  new.  Ditto  of  Zuingle's  works,  p.  402,  which  I  long 
since  reviewed.  So  little  known  is  labour,  out  of  the  Land  of 
Promise.  Give  me  some  hints  towards  a  prayer-book  for  the 
Navy  and  Marine.^ 

New  York,  May  23,  1845. 
After  rain  and  thunder  in  the  night,  we  have  very  good 
weather.     My  parents  have  been  a  week  with  us.     To  see  my 

^  He  prepared  for  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  "  A  Manual  of 
Devotion  for  Soldiers  and  Sailors,"  comprising  Prayers,  compend  of  Bible 
Truth,  Shorter  Catechism,  and  Hymns. 


32      WHILE  PASTOR   OF  DUANE   ST.    CHURCH,  NEW  YORK. 

father  so  brisk  and  happy,  at  73,  is  matter  of  thankful  acknowL 
edgment.  But  what  is  this  to  old  ]\Irs.  Lindsay,  whom  I  vis- 
ited to-day,  vet.  97  !  She  is  a  native,  and  has  lived  near  a  cen- 
tury in  Liberty  Street,  (next  to  the  one  you  enter  by,  from  the 
ferry,)  which  was  a  rural  suburban  hill  in  her  youth.  She  re- 
members the  rector  and  curate  of  the  "  English  church,"  in  which 
she  was  bred.  She  sits  in  her  chair,  a  venerable  and  still  fine- 
looking  woman,  almost  in  full  use  of  her  mind,  and  full  of, 
Christian  knowledge  and  piety.  She  gave  me  two  fine  folios  of  ■ 
Erskine's  works,  for  the  Seminary ;  and  bade  me  observe  that 
the  shortest  sermon  in  the  book  was  the  means  of  awakening 
Dr.  John  Mason,  the  father  of  Dr.  J.  M.  Mason :  this  she  had 
from  the  lips  of  the  former.  She  lives  with  Mrs.  Lowndes, 
(who  is  the  wife  of  her  nephew,)  and  one  of  the  Crow  ells  of 
Pine  Street ;  umquhile  numbered  among  the  green-bench  cate- 
chumens, ou  vous  savez,  [the  aisle  of  Pine  Street  church,  Phila- 
delphia.] Dr.  ]\IcElroy  visits  this  ancient  woman  once  a  week. 
I  felt  a  peculiar  reverence  in  her  presence.  My  election  as 
Tract-committee-man  [American  Tract  Society]  was  unexpected. 
I  know  not  how  to  act.  I  am  overladen.  It  is  giving  away 
time  I  owe  to  our  own  schemes.  Yet  it  is  something  to  have  a 
voice  in  selecting  religious  books  for  so  many  thousands,  and 
standing  in  the  gap  against  error.  A  Neapolitan  gun-ship  is 
here.  Bp.  Hughes  made  most  of  the  crew  give  up  Bibles  which 
had  been  given  them.  They  are  fine  fellows,  swarthy,  but 
blooming,  clean  and  trim,  and  with  a  jovial  but  temperate  look. 
Wm.  E.  Schenck  has  begun  at  Hammond  Street.  The  small- 
pox prevails  fearfully  in  some  parts  of  the  city.  Making  every 
allowance  for  exaggeration,  it  is  formidable.  The  list  of  the 
General  Assembly  furnishes  only  a  few  whom  one  could  think 
of  for  speech  or  action,  and  these  all  young.  Of  Seminarists,  I 
note  these :  Reeve,  Frame,  Krebs,  Goldsmith,  Lubrie,  Davidson, 
Perkins,  Curran,  Olmstead,  Corss,  Jones,  Hope,  Harrison, 
Williamson,  McMaster,  Smith,  AVeed,  Rice,  Wood,  Alexander, 
Crowe,  Montfort,  Goodrich,  Cowan,  Dickson,  Bard,  Cunningham, 
Edgar,  Bowman,  Pratt,  Morrow,  Weatherby,  Twitchell :  no 
doubt  others  not  recognized  by  me.  In  expectation  of  taking 
the  chair  in  '46,  prepare  yourself  with  a  good  Indian  speech,  and 
wampum,  for  Je-chah-tu-guck-click-hoh,  (Walk-in-prairie-grass,) 
Chief  of  the  Elat-noses,  Avho  may  greet  you  as  "  father."  As 
the  Assembly  gave  "  six  barrels  of  provisions  "  to  "  No-heart-of 
fear,"  it  is  likely  we  shall  have  a  numerous  council  in  the  Xth 
church-wigwam,  [Philadelphia.]  "  Church  of  Trenton  City, 
seventeen  barrels  of  jerked  meat." 

Our  summer-birds  are  on  the  wing.     Last  Tuesday,  my  father 


1844—184:9.  33 

lectured.  Among  the  hearers  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arnott,  with 
wife,  sent  to  Canada  for  three  months  by  the  Free  Church. 
They  had  not  yet  slept  in  America ;  and  seemed  melted  by  a 
service,  so  exactly  (as  they  said)  like  their  own.  Lord's  poems 
are  out.  Kidder's  book  also,  [Brazil ;]  good  style,  beautiful  illus  - 
tation,  and  grand  reading.  I  mean  to  give  an  article  (D.  v.)  in 
Repertorio,  [July  1845.]  I  hope  the  abolitionists  arc  ready  to 
support  all  the  superannuated  negroes,  called  slaves,  who  are 
living  snugly  in  warm  comfort  over  Jersey.  How  little  relief 
has  followed  all  their  thousands  yet  expended !  Herschell 
is  a  good  speaker,  and  though  slow  yet  pathetic,  full,  of  unc- 
tion, and  abundant  in  apt  Scripture  citation  such  as  none  but 
a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews  ever  employs.  He  had  several  thou- 
sands at  the  Tabernacle  of  Witness,  or  House  of  David,  (Hale.) 
Dr.  Adams  found  twenty-three  young  Americans  at  Rome,  in 
preparation  for  the  tonsure.  Our  streets  are  cloacine,  mephitic, 
stercoraceous,  Auggean,  fimous,  and  infamous. 


New  York,  June  11,  1845. 
When  I  examine  myself,  for  being  somewhat  slack  in  my 
letter-writing,  I  seem  to  find  my  excuse  in  the  thermometer. 
Sunday,  Monday,  and  part  of  yesterday  were  equatorial.  Mr. 
Hotchkin,  one  of  my  people,  late  from  Java,  says  he  did  not 
suffer  as  much  there ;  but  this  he  attributes  in  part  to  their 
houses  and  their  habits.  I  have  been  an  hour  on  the  battery 
this  evening ;  by  sunset  and  moonlight.  A  thousand  people, 
but  mostly  canaille.  Fashion  does  not  acknowledge  this  lordly 
park.  Wherever  I  saw  a  knot  of  gentlefolk  I  heard  French,  or 
more  often  Spanish.  The  74  near  by,  the  ships  in  the  distance, 
the  scores  of  small  craft  under  gentle  sail,  the  hundreds  of  small 
boats,  the  blue  shores,  the  water,  the  delicious  breeze,  the  lights 
among  the  shipping,  the  fine  trees,  the  half-seen  groups — end  the 
period,  accordmg  to  the  rule  in  that  case  made  and  provided. 
Dr.  Potts's  church  is  to  be  dedicated  to-morrow.  I  would 
rather  preach  Christ,  by  such  a  history  as  Merle  d'Aubigne's, 
than 'by  many  sermons  ;  yet  men  judge  differently,  from  going 
by  names  instead  of  things.  Herschell  is  a  fine  preacher ;  I 
mean  he  is  a  good  one  :  full  of  uncommon  Scriptures,  of  unction, 
of  force,  and  of  Christ.  He  feels  our  climate  very  much.  Monod 
and  Merle  have  both  been  at  Edinburgh.  Dr.  Phillips  has  a 
noble  session-house,  separate,  back  from  street,  but  fronting  full 
on  the  cross  street.  I  have  always  considered  June  our  health- 
iest month  :  it  is  so  here  now.  Yet  I  cannot  describe  what  I  see 
in  my  walks  in  certain  streets  :  dunghills,  nakedness,  dead  dogs 

VOL.  II, — 2* 


34:      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUAlsE   ST.   CHIJRCHj   :tsEW  TOEK. 

and  cats,  offiil,  garbage,  leprous  folk,  lazars,  magdalens.  The 
stench,  in  some  quarters,  is  mephitic.  The  single  element  of 
water  (nota  bene,  not  Croton)  flo^ys,  and  floods,  and  smells  in 
a  manner  unmentionable.  Cloacina  herself  must  preside  in  and 
about  the  park  and  its  purlieus.  Nobody  ever  cares  about  this 
or  any  thing  similar,  for  it  is  characteristic  of  a  New  Yorker  to 
feel  like  a  stranger  within  his  gates  :  no  esprit  de  corps,  no  re- 
sponsibility. I  think  Unitarianism  flourishes  here  ;  also  its  ally 
Svredenborgianism.  The  vast  body  of  young  New  Englanders 
who  are  here,  afl'ect  the  easy  young-lady  philosophy  of  these 
teachers.  I  think  there  is  a  great  deal  in  Hazlitt's  Table  Talk 
which  would  please  you  ;  scoffer  as  he  sometimes  is.  The  pews 
in  the  beautiful  Jersey  City  Church  are  almost  all  taken.  Their 
steeple  is  commanding,  and  is  said  to  be  the  first  object,  on  en- 
tering the  Narrows.  I  have  some  hopes  of  erasing  my  pulpit 
scenery,  [painted  in  perspective.]  Sometimes  I  dream  of  resum- 
ing my  old  plan  of  a  Comment  on  the  New  Testament,  simple 
notes.  Surely  it  is  wanted.  I  can't  feel  easy  under  this  deliver- 
ance [in  General  Assembly]  anent  Popish  baptism,  [as  invalid.] 
Perhaps  it  is  right :  but  to  me  it  savours  of  Succession,  Braminical 
orders,  Puseyism,  &c.  Our  "  erring  sister  "  is  naughty  enough, 
but  I  choke  a  little  about  "Antichrist,"  the  "Son  of  Perdition,"  &c. 
Alas  !  I  feel  my  own  indecision,  and  know  my  own  mistiness,  on 
points  which  other  men  see  as  plain  as  Polus's  sky-dragon  :  qu. 
didst  ever  read  "  Polus,"  in  Erasmus's  Colloqui^e  1  Every  day  I 
have  to  go  to  the  pure  New  Testament,  especially  Matthew, 
Mark,  Luke,  and  John ;  as  one  goes  to  the  hydrant,  after  coff*ee, 
tea,  lemonade,  beer,  wine,  brandy,  and  physic ;  in  all  which, 
natheless,  are  some  true  aqueous  particles  :  fSXeiTOjxev  yap  apri  Si 
iaoiTTpovj  iv   alvtyfxaTi.  I  am  yours  and  yours's. 

Nt^.w  York,  July  14,  1845. 

The  hot  weather  makes  the  page  so  dripping,  that  epistolation 
is  more  onerous  than  common.  Besides,  we  sat  ten  solid  days 
in  Presbytery ;  on  one  of  these  fourteen  hours ;  on  another  I 
was  in  the  room  from  3  till  10  P.  M.,  after  a  morning  session. 

I  am  tired  of  my  correspondence  with  the  "  Northern  AVar- 
der,"  ^  and  now  propose  to  you  to  take  it ;  which,  by  agreement,  I 
have  a  right  to  do.  Terms,  a  column  (about)  a  month,  by  the 
steamer,  or  oftener  on  emergency.  I  will  send  you  my  files,  so 
that  you  can  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  your  illustrious  predeces- 
sor.    I  confidently  expect  your  acceptance  by  next  advices. 

^  A  religious  newspaper  published  in  Dundee,  Scotland,  for  which  Dr. 
Alexander  wrote  as  its  American  correspondent,  a  monthly  letter. 


1844:— 1849.  35 

Say  nothing  about  the  thermometer.  I  sat  up  much  of  Sun- 
day night  in  Georgia  summer  costume.  Generally  towards  even- 
mg  there  is  a  breeze,  especially  grateful  down  town,  but  it  has 
fliiled  us.  It  was  our  communion,  and  our  church  is  very 
warm,  and  pulpit  at  the  south  end. 

My  mind  is  led  a  good  deal  more  than  formerly  to  consider 
the  topic  of  gnat-filtering  and  camel-bolting.  With  all  our  talk 
about  our  "  Pilgrim-fathers,"  some  of  the  said  fathers'  pills  are  a 
little  too  grim  for  me.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  indigestion  of 
the  age  in  England,  and  bred  Quakerism  as  well  as  Puritanism. 
It  rejected  mince  pies  and  the  word  "  Sunday"  as  violently  as 
crosses  and  bishops.  Have  you  lighted  on  some  "  Sketches  of 
Newburyport,"  &c.  ?  In  1752  one  Bartlett  was  "  dealt  with"  for 
refusing  communion  with  the  pastor,  because  the  latter  wore  a 
"  wigg."  In  Judge  Sewall's  diary,  these  entries  :  "  1685,  Sept. 
13th.  Three  admitted  to  the  church.  Two  wore  periwigs." 
"  1697.  Mr.  Noyes  of  Salem  wrote  a  treatise  on  periwigs,  &c." 
"  1708.  Aug.  20.  Mr.  Cheever  died.  The  welfare  of  the  prov- 
ince was  much  upon  his  heart.  He  abominated  periwigs.'" 
John  Eliot,  the  Indian  apostle,  attributed  King  Philip's  war 
to  a  judgment  on  periwigs.  My  father  remembers  the  birth  of 
a  calf  in  Rockbridge,  with  an  extraordinary  tuft  or  top-knot :  it 
was  voted  by  the  good  people  to  be  a  monition  of  heaven  against 
a  prevailing  mode  of  dressing  women's  hair.  A  Ruling  Elder, 
being  at  Saratoga,  set  his  face  very  sourly  against  the  playing  of 
nine-pins  for  exercise  :  the  camel  which  he  swallowed  was  some- 
thing more  robust. 

Clirehuo-h,  hairdresser,  is  a  character.  I  never  saw  a  man 
with  a  more  decided  gentlemanly  air,  quiet,  dignified,  easy, 
deferential.  He  is  a  collector  of  coins,  has  a  volume  made  of  all 
the  Tartans  of  the  different  Highland  clans  and  families,  has  all 
the  Scotch  music  ever  issued,  gives  lectures  on  Burns,  with  songs, 
and  has  a  world  of  old  engravings.  He  cuts  one's  hair  with  the 
gravity  of  an  inquisitor,  and  talks  literature  and  vertu. 

The  modern  schools  are  all  humbugs.  Teach  a  boy  Latin 
and  Greek ;  the  rest  will  come  of  course.  But  fritter  up  his 
time  on  a  dozen  branches,  and  he  misses  the  lingoes :  and  if  he 
misses  a  fair  grounding  in  them  from  10  to  13,  he  never  gets  it. 
In  hundreds  of  pupils  whom  I  have  examined  and  taught,  I 
never  knew  an  exception. 

• 

Newark,  August  30,  1845. 
Eor  a  time  I  did  not  know  of  your  return,  and  then  I  was 
jaunting  iibout  in  regions  where  for  the  most  part  writing  facili- 
ties are  not  easy  to  get.     My  journeys  afford  ]io  journals.     The 


36      WHILE   PASTOE  OF  DUANE   ST.   CHUKCH,  NEW  YOEK. 

whole  thing  Wcas  somewhat  dull,  especially  as  the  burning  drought, 
up  the  North  Kiver,  has  been  universal.  They  are  longer  about" 
our  church  [painting,  &c.]  than  I  had  thought,  and  I  propose  to 
charter  the  cellar  [basement]  after  to-morrow.  We  have  made  a 
clean  riddance  of  the  fresco  painting,  which  had  become  a 
Nehushtan,  [2  Kings,  xviii.  4,]  with  some  of  the  mothers  in  our 
corner  of  the  vineyard.  I  traversed  the  Great  Britain,  a  wonder- 
ful piece  of  hardware.  The  British  steamers  are  intensely  filthy 
compared  with  ours  ;  and  I  learn  that  the  observation  is  true  of 
all  their  shipping.  She  has  twenty-four  fire-places,  and  burns  100 
tons  of  coal  per  diem.  When  the  last  touch  is  put  on,  she  will 
have  cost  $600,000.  I  am  informed  by  one  who  pretends  to 
know,  that  Cogswell  is  going  on  laboriously,  making  out  the 
catalogue  of  the  great  Library,  which  Astor  is  to  found ;  after 
which  he  is  to  go  to  Europe  and  realize  the  plan.  We  hope  to 
re-open  our  house  about  the  12th  prox.  This  is  a  beautiful  town, 
and,  near  as  it  is  to  New  York,  is  remarkable  for  quiet  and 
honesty.  I  am  at  the  house  of  three  maiden  ladies,  at  a  corner, 
in  a  thinly-built  part  of  the  town ;  yet  they  have  never  had  any 
fastening  to  their  windows,  or  their  side-door.  I  have  not  rallied 
as  much  as  I  need  to  do,  to  encounter  another  campaign.  My 
New  York  experiment  is  by  no  means  tried  :  but  as  I  never  did 
any  thing  with  more  wish  to  do  right,  so  I  now  endeavour  to  cast 
myself  on  the  Master,  for  the  result.  Yesterday  I  came  from 
Staten  Island.  Every  time  I  visit  that  delightful  isle,  I  perceive 
it  to  be  unequalled  as  a  summer  retreat ;  such  variety  of  coast 
and  prospects,  such  numerous  drives  on  roads  almost  uniformly 
shaded  with  rows  of  trees,  such  graceful  ups  and  downs,  and 
green  recesses,  and  such  a  feeling  of  remoteness  from  the  world, 
though  you  are  but  an  hour  from  the  city,  that  I  should  like  of 
all  things  to  have  a  house  there,  and  go  to  town  every  day  in 
summer.  This  is  done  by  several  scores  of  New  York  merchants, 
&c.  I  saw  the  coffer-dam,  at  Caldwell's,  which  they  are  making 
around  Capt.  Kidd's  vessel ;  $60,000  have  been  expended  already. 
I  saw  the  ruins  of  Anthony's  Nose ;  they  have  blown  the 
nose  so  hardly,  that  no  rhinoplastic  means  can  ever  restore  it. 

Newark,  September  1,  1845. 
I  fear  my  letter  of  this  morning  was  "  as  vinegar  upon  nitre ;" 
for,  five  minutes  after  mailing  it,  I  heard  the  news  of  your  sister's 
death,  and  tried  to  get  it  out  of  the  ofiice,  but  in  vain.  Had  I 
learnt  the  melancholy  tidings  earlier,  I  should  certainly  have  has- 
tened to  the  funeral :  as  it  is,  1  have  searched  the  papers  in  vain 
for  the  date.  O  what  a  change  in  your  mother's  household,  and 
what  a  shade  over  her  hearth  !     Your  brothers  have  really  lost  a 


184:4:— 1849.  37 

guardian  angel,  at  least  from  this  world.  Anna's  qualities  come 
very  freshly  before  me.  She  was  certainly  a  marked  character. 
I  do  think  I  never  knew  any  person  of  more  honesty,  truth,  self- 
denial,  charity,  or  liberality.  Her  standard  was  high,  and  she 
judged  fellow-Christians  severely  ;  but  she  judged  justly  in  this, 
and  condemned  herself  in  full  measure.  I  forbear  to  say  what 
you  have  lost,  or  to  indulge  in  ordinary  condolence.  God  grant 
that  this  renewed  call  on  your  family  may  be  blessed  to  those 
who  remain,  especially  to  your  mother. 

These  gathering  shades  on  our  path,  as  we  go  onward,  tell  us 
that  "the  night  cometh."  I  look  back  to  the  days  of  Sixth  street, 
[his  earlier  visits  to  Philadelphia,]  and  my  eyes  fill  with  unaccus- 
tomed tears.  What  manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be,  &c.  ? 
How  many  of  our  cares  and  anxieties  are  very  vain,  when  seen 
in  the  light  of  coming  things  !  Under  a  gracious  influence,  our 
character  is  no  doubt  formed  by  successive  dispensations  of  this 
kind.  It  is  a  new  immersion,  and  we  come  out  with  a  graver 
tinge.  I  feel  unusually  serious  under  this  sudden  news  ;  and  as 
yet  know  no  particulars. 

New  York,  September  25,  1845. 
I  should  feel  better  and  stronger,  if  I  had  taken  some  bona- 
iide  distant  jaunts,  which  the  state  of  my  family  did  not  allow. 
The  Boston  people  have  the  good  sense  to  put  their  ministers' 
vacation  into  the  call  as  a  matter  of  claim.  In  many  of  our  con- 
gregations there  is  enough  of  the  croaking  sort  to  grudge  even 
that  recreation  to  a  minister,  which  a  humane  drayman  would 
give  to  his  horse.  I  have  a  presentation  copy  of  [Rev.  Mr.] 
Lewis's  [of  Scotland]  Impressions  of  the  American  churches. 
He  censures  right  and  left.  Our  preaching,  in  particular,  he 
describes  as  characterized  by  want  of  animation  and  earnestness. 
He  is  very  severe  on  slavery  and  democracy.  In  fine,  very  little 
pleases  him.  There  is,  throughout,  a  very  offensive  air  of  self- 
sufficiency  and  patronage.     Dr.  thinks  there  never  was 

among  our  churches  so  general  an  indifference ;  that  ministers 
give  undue  value  to  learning,  and  less  than  is  due  to  piety  ;  that 
such  men  as  Payson  and  Nettleton  were  of  a  generation,  of 
whom  we  have  not  one  left.  Lewis  speaks  of  the  total  desuetude 
into  which  pastoral  visiting  has  fallen.  Cheap  literature  blasts 
religious  reading.  I  seldom  see  a  young  professor  with  a  spir- 
itual book.  Church  extension  goes  on  coldly.  We  are  not  quite 
as  far  behindhand,  as  to  new  churches,  as  Philadelphia,  but  we 
add  them  by  threes  and  fours,  when  we  should  by  twenties  and 
thirties.  Vacant  ministers  swarm  in  our  cities,  beseeching  one 
for  places,  instead  of  rushing  into  the  wild  West  and  South,  as 


38      WHILE  'PASTOK   OF   DTJANE    ST.   CHUECH,   NEW  TOEK. 

was  done  by  the  McKennies,  Henrys,  Blairs,  Todds,  Grahams, 
and  Davieses,  who  founded  our  church.  I  feel  the  justice  of 
Lewis's  remarks  on  this  topic,  \vhen  contrasting  our  lethargy 
with  the  actual  state  of  the  Scotch  churches.  I  don't  wonder  at 
the  sympathy  he  felt  with  the  Methodists. 

New  York,  October  3,  1845. 
Heavy  rains.  I  have  seen  specimens  of  words  and  sentences, 
printed  by  the  new  magnetic  telegraph  ;  it  works  by  keys,  like 
a  piano.  Music  is  well  off  here ;  Ole  Bull,  Templeton,  and  de 
Meyer.  One  of  our  missionaries  in  India  is  succeeding  well  in 
teaching  Hindoo  boys  to  read  the  Hebrew.  Its  connexion  with 
Arabic  ^renders  it  both  easy  and  desirable.  Eankin,  our  most 
valuable  missionary  there,  will  have  to  come  back  ;  he  is  almost 
dead.  Austin  Dickinson  thinks  he  has  such  arrangements  with 
news-editors,  as  to  ensure  the  publication  of  any  religious  para- 
graph, in  40,000  copies  of  secular  prints.  This  is  worth  consid- 
er in  o-.  He  is  very  avid  of  scraps.  Send  me  for  him  a  bit  of  a 
sermon,  and  you  may  do  good.  I  am  just  from  Monthly  Con- 
cert. I  think  our  average  of  collection  at  it  slowly  rises.  Bush 
goes  the  whole  Swedenborgian  figure.  Some  of  his  revelations 
are  not  so  very  fascinating ;  as  of  people's  being  conscious  in 
their  coffins,  thinking  themselves  on  earth,  while  they  are  in 

heaven. 

One  of  the  great  Christian  problems  of  the  age  seems  to  me 
to  be  how  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  thousands,  in  cities,  who 
will  not  enter  any  church.  Pews  are  high.  Or  they  are  not 
dressed  w^ell  enough.  An  effort  is  making  to  establish  minor  re- 
ligious meetings,  for  such  purposes,  here  and  there,  all  over  the 
city.  It  is  a  fine  scheme,  though  not  a  new  one,  being  that  of 
the  old  Evangelical  Society  of  our  boyhood.'  But  its  simplicity 
and  homeliness  gives  it  a  Bible-look.  When  shall  we  come 
down  from  our  stilts,  and  be  in  earnest  with  a  perishing  world  ? 
Decorum  and  conservatism  do  not  rank  as  the  most  needed 
virtues  just  now.  Lewis  justly  charges  our  church  with  want  of 
aggressive  power  in  the  cities.  We  have  lost  much  by  stiffness. 
A  covenanter  minister  said  to  me,  last  week,  and  I  had  thought 
it  myself,  "  If  your  church  had  only  allowed  the  '  Old  Psalms ' 
and  a  few  such  things,  to  old-country  people,  on  their  coming 
here,  our  church  would  by  this  time  have  had  no  existence  here." 
I  did  not  hear  Wines's  Lectures,  but  he  was  very  well  patronized. 

^  Described  in  Life  of  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  chap.  xii.  Dr.  J.  "W. 
Alexander  gave  some  thoughts  on  "  Poverty  and  Crime  in  Cities,"  in  the 
Kepertory,  October,  1845. 


1844—1849.  39 

Dr.  Spring  has  a  very  good  plan  for  a  preachers'  library 
here.  It  could  be  easily  accomplished.  There  is  frequently  a 
call  to  consult  volumes,  which  are  not  to  be  found  at  all.  A 
building  is  all  that  stands  much  in  th^  way.  Look  out  for  a 
"  Christian-Alliance  man,"  with  the  cry  of  the  daughters  of  the 
horse-leech.  Could  not  some  Christian  Newton  arise  with  ad- 
vantage, and  simplify  our  methods,  indicate  some  gravitation,  or 
what  not  ?  We  have  a  wonderful  diversity  of  methods,  whereby 
to  reach  the  same  ends.  Thus,  take  the  one  object  of  European 
'popery ;  I  have  been  solicited  to  open  our  doors  to  (1)  this 
Christian  Alliance;  (2)  to  Herman  Norton,  well  known  in 
Trenton,  but  now  more  familiar  with  Trent,  agent  for  the  Prot- 
estant Association  ;  (3)  The  Foreign  Evangelical  Society  ;  while 
I  prefer  (4)  The  Presbyterian  Board  which  we  are  endeavouring 
to  aid,  in  this  very  field,  by  sustaining  an  Evangelist  in  France. 

New  YoPvK,  October  Y,  1845. 
The  late  Free  Church  Assembly  at  Inverness  fills  two  of  the 

large  Scotch  papers  pretty  full.     slips  by  the  whole  in  two 

or  three  sentences,  without  a  word  of  extract,  and  yet  I  have 
seldom  read  any  proceedings  more  full  of  interest  and  edifica- 
tion. It  is  "  life  in  earnest."  This  extra  meeting  was  all  in  a 
glow.  Day  after  day,  in  the  absence  of  all  ordinary  business, 
they  warmed  one  another  up,  in  regard  to  their  "  schemes." 
That  church  seems  to  me  all  in  one  great  revival.  Where  could 
one  hundred  and  twenty  ministers  be  found  among  us  to  engage 
each  for  a  month's  Missionary  itinerancy?  Their  "pavilion"  had 
four  thousand  worshippers,  thrice  a  day.  Inman  says  Chalmers 
was  very  charming,  while  sitting  for  his  portrait,  [for  a  gentleman 
in  New  York.]  He  used  to  go  to  breakfost,  and  fiimily  worship. 
He  says  Macaulay  spoke  of  "the  American  clipping  of  words  in 
pronunciation  :  to  which  I  rejoined,  every  Englishman  says  "  111 
thenk  ye  for  thet  het."  Inman  is  a  great  artist,  and  a  fine  talker. 
Have  you  seen  Bailey's  "  Festus,"  a  poem  ?  A  bold,  irregular, 
but  gigantic  genius.  Some  things  equal  any  thing  I  ever  read. 
But  the  extravagance  is  wonderful,  and  the  great  aim  is  to  en- 
force Restorationism.  Bush  is  to  establish  Swedenborg's  divine 
mission  next  Sunday.  Dr.  Cumming,  an  educated  Scotchman, 
says,  that  having  re-visited  Scotland  after  the  disruption,  he 
could  scarce  believe  the  change ;  a  spirit  breathed  into  every 
thing ;  even  drowsy  country  ministers  roused  up  and  elevated 
by  zeal  for  a  great  cause.  Dr.  Potts's  church  is  certainly  very 
beautiful.  As  a  work  of  art  it  is  exquisite.  They  have  very 
nobly  resolved  to  leave  no  debt  on  the  congregation.  The  cost 
is  at  least  $80,000.     One  pew-sale  has  come  off".     I  understand 


40      WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DUANE    ST.  CHUECH,   NEW  TOKK. 

half  the  down-stairs  pews  were  sold.  The  highest  price  was 
$1,008.  I  am  told  the  purchases  equal  $35,000.  On  the  1st 
day  of  the  7th  month,  Tisri,  or  New  Year's  day,  I  attended  syna- 
gogue, and  saw  men  in  their  shrouds,  (an  old  usage,)  heard  the 
ram's  horns  blown,  &c.  Saturday  is  the  day  of  Atonement.  I 
also  saw  the  Levites  pour  water  from  a  silver  pitcher  on  the 
hands  of  the  Cohens ;  and  the  latter  ascend,  shoeless,  and  bless 
the  people,  according  tO'  the  trine  benediction  in  Deuteronomy. 
There  are  now  nine  synagogues  m  this  city.  Neander  is  work- 
ing away  among  the  Jews.  I  saw  Abeel  yesterday  ;  alive,  but 
scarcelv  more  :  full  of  faith  and  love  ;  going  to  Savannah. 

New  York,  October  20,  1845. 
Dr.  [Kearney]  Eodgers,  about  ten  days  ago,  performed  an 
operation,  for  aneurism,  which  is  considered  unique  :  the  tying 
of  the  left  subclavian  artery.  Sir  Astley  Cooper  attempted  it 
once,  and  failed.  The  man  is  thus  far  doing  well.  Mott,  Ste- 
vens, Cheeseman,  and  three  hundred  spectators,  were  present. 

Thus  far  I  had  written  on  Friday,  the  19th ;  now,  on  20th,  I 
add  that  Baynard  R.  Hall  is  here,  and  is  to  preach  for  me  to- 
morrow.     A  new  book  on  Tobacco,  dedicated  by  S.  H.  Cox, 
D.D.,  to  the  "  Bight  Honorable "   (sic)  John  Quincy  Adams. 
The  New  School  Svnod  are  at  work  to-day,  hammer-and-tongs, 
settling  the  mutilations  of  the  Tract  Society.     Wines  is  here  on 
the  Hebrew  Commonwealth.     D.  X.  Junkin,  in  press,  on  the 
Oath.      Bush   has   great   audiences    and    is    making   converts. 
Bellows  [Unitarian]  has  got  into  his  new  house.      It  has  two 
conspicuous  crosses  in  alto  relievo,  in  front :  lucus  a  non,  &c. 
J.  F.  Clark,  formerly    of  Flemington,  has  got  into  hot  water 
(strange    to  sav)  at  Cold  Spring,  by  circulating  some  Douay 
Bibles  among  Romanists,  who  would  receive  no  others.     The 
Hydrarchos  Sillimani  is  said  to  be  artificial.     The  Mastodon  is 
in  full  feather.     Templeton  and  de  Meyer  are  convulsing  the 
musical  world.     I  wish  some  new  Whitefield  or  even  Summer- 
field  could  rise,  to  carry  the  crowd  a  little  that  way.     I  believe 
more  than  I  did  in  the  need  of  some  radical,  revolutionary,  ag- 
gressive action,  in  our  Christianity.     Our  present  method  does 
well  enough  to  keep  what  we  have  got.     I  am  about  to  make  a 
small  Hvmn  Book,  to  contain  none  but  unaltered  Hymns,  about 

two  hundred  and  fifty. 

Bickersteth  on  the  Prophecies,  though  a  1000-narian  book,  is 
in  a  lovely  Christian  spirit,  and  is  very  delightful.  All  the  del- 
egates from  the  Established  Cliurch  of  Scotland  have  been  here  ; 
some  of  them  more  than  once.  I  do  not  know  of  their  preaching 
anywhere. 


1844—1849.  41 

New  York,  November  lY,  1845. 
Yesterday  I  compassed  three  services,  a  thing  I  have  not 
done  for  some  years.  For  two  successive  Sabbaths  I  have  had 
in  church,  Peter  R.  Livingston,  brother  of  Mrs.  Armstrong,  [of 
Trenton,]  also  Maturin  Livingston  ;  and,  on  the  9th,  the  former 
partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  our  church,  a  very  pleasing 
sight  to  me.  One  of  the  most  agreeable  hours  I  spend  in  the 
week,  contrary  to  all  my  expectations,  is  on  Monday  morning 
at  the  Foreign  Missionary  Executive  Board.  Dr.  [J.  J.]  Jane- 
way,  who  comes  more  than  thirty  miles,  is  our  most^  punctual 
member.  We  have  adopted  as  a  missionary  to  Africa,  Ellis, 
the  learned  blacksmith,  of  Alabama.  Two  synods  have  bought 
him  and  his  for  $2,500.  His  attainments  (without  a  teacher)  in 
Latin  and  Greek  are  certified  to  us  as  extraordinary.  A  late 
German  has  the  following  scheme,  which  is  certainly  ingenious. 
Christian  doctrine  has  four  grand  epochs:  1.  T/ieo%y,  proper ; 
Trept  rov  0eov.  The  Trinity,  &c.,  settled  in  the  early  age ;  doctrine 
not  moved  since ;  this  was  done  by  the  Greeks.  2.  Antliro- 
l^ology :  Doctrine  of  fall  and  grace  ;  the  Pelagian  controversy  : 
this  was  done  by  the  Latins.  3.  Soterology:  Doctrine  of  the 
way  of  salvation ;  Justification  controversy  :  this  by  the  Ger- 
mans. 4.  Ecclesiology  :  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  In  this  era  we 
now  are.  There  is,  to  me,  a  beautiful  vraisemblance  in  this.  No. 
4  is  undoubtedly  true  of  our  times.  Some  notions  have  lately 
struck  me  more  than  ever  before  ;  such  as  these  :  In  proportion 
as  cheap  publication  goes  on,  hooks  become  more  and  more  like 
conversation  ;  and  the  attributes  and  laws  of  the  latter  belong  to 
the  former  :  this  admits  of  being  carried  out  to  wonderful  par- 
ticulars. Again,  the  more  we  are  flooded  with  bad  books,  the 
more  should  we  read  the  Bible — I  mean  the  simple  text ;  even  of 
ministers,  few  do  what  they  ought  of  this.  Lest  you  should  be 
overburdened,  I  spare  you  the  remaining  aphorisms  ;  which  shall 
appear  in  my  "  Novissimum  Organon,  vol.  iii.  §  ccccxcviii.  Be 
libris  siqyprimendis.''''  I  heard  de  Meyer,  [pianist ;]  it  was  with  as- 
tonishment and  almost  fright,  but  I  was  not  touched.  I  have  gone 
through  seven  chapters  of  Hebrews,  [in  weekly  lectures.^]  What 
a  wonderful  abandon  in  the  style  of  Hamilton's  "  Life  in  Earnest ! " 

New  York,  December  2, 1845. 
I  lament  over  your  provincialism,  in  using  the  word  "freshet" 
[for  fresh]  as  you  do,  in  letter  of  October  17.    Perhaps  you  have 
not  met  with  "  The  New  Methodist  Pocket  Hymn  Book  :  "  the 
following  is  from  it : 

^  The  series  of  lectures  on  the  Hebrews  extended  from  October  29,  1844, 
to  February  23,  184Y. 


42      WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DTTANE    ST.   CHTJECH,    NEW  YORK. 

"  When  I  was  blind,  I  could  not  see, 
The  Calvinists  deceived  me  ; 
They,  by  the  Scripture,  strive  to  show, 
That  sinners  nothing  had  to  do : 
At  length  I  heard  another  preach, 
Who  ways  of  righteousness  did  teach  : 
He  warned  me  of  the  Calvinist, 
And  how  God's  word  they  would  resist." 

P.  113. 

I  have  this  day  had  a  most  painful  interview  with  a  man  of 
some  note  in  the  world  of  art.  I  talked  earnestly  with  him 
about  his  soul.  (He  is,  I  fear,  on  his  death-bed.)  He  received 
it  well,  considered  as  kindness ;  but  considered  as  gospel,  I  think 
he  did  not  receive  it  at  all.  After  my  most  serious  endeavours, 
he  very  calmly  changed  the  w^hole  subject,  and  talked  about  his 
last  picture,  and  a  bas-relief  for  the  tomb  of  a  friend. 

I  believe  all  the  pews  not  sold,  in  the  lower  part  of  Dr. 
Potts's  church,  are  rented.  Old  Dr.  Milledoler  preached  at  the 
Installation  :  he  made  a  prayer  which  I  shall  certainly  long^  re- 
member; it  was  exalted,  scriptural,  childlike,  tender,  and  moving. 
The  man  who  can  so  pray,  (and  even  so  preach,  as  he  did,)  is  a 
man  I  should  like  to  know  better ;  and  I  mean  to  seek  his  ac- 
quaintance, at  the  first  opportunity. 

New  York,  December  9,  1845. 
Your  hints  about  mission-efforts  around  our  city-  (you  may 
add  town-)  churches  are  good :  so  much  so,  that  I  have  been 
harping  on  that  same  string  ever  since  I  came  here,  and  have 
preached  one  sermon  very  directly  to  that  point.  Our  city  is 
not  altogether  behind,  in  the  matter,  even  now ;  we  have  tw^enty 
city  missionaries,  and  more  than  a  hundred  weekly  meetings  of 
the  sort  you  mean.  But  this  does  not  reach  my  notion,  and  I 
am  not  going  to  rest  until,  as  a  congregation,  we  have  a  preach- 
ino--place  and  missionary  in  regular  operation.  This,  with  God's 
blessing,  I  hope  to  set  agoing,  before  the  season  is  over.  AYe 
already '  support  two  missionaries  in  the  West,  and  one  in 
France ;  and  I  have  this  moment  had  a  note,  saying  that  our 
youn^T  women  have  assumed  the  whole  charge  of  the  last,  leaving 
the  young  men  (formerly  associated)  to  give  their  money 
another  direction.     I  am  recommending  the  coloured  people  to 

their  care. 

I  do  not  see  any  great  exaggeration  in  regard  to  Dod.'  It 
is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  I  never  saw  his  superior  in  extent 
of  knowledge,  in  exactness  in  certain  branches,  in  capacity  to 
teach,  in  power  of  colloquial  argument,  in  generous  enthusiasm. 

^  Professor  Albert  B.  Dod  died  at  Princeton,  Nov.  20,  1845. 


1844—1849.  43 

Just  at  this  time,  I  am  doubtless  disposed  to  look  at  the  bright 
side  of  his  character,  and  to  consider  his  death  a  very  significant 
blow  to  the  college.  There  is  something  very  pleasing  to  me, 
in  the  almost  universal  expression  of  sorrow  among  all  classes 
in  New  Jersey,  and  especially  among  his  pupils.  His  dying 
exercises  strike  me  as  truly  gracious. 

I  forgot  to  talk  to  you  about 's  preposterous  elocution. 

When  warmed,  he  thoroughly  forgets  it ;  but  he  read  a  passage 
in  a  way  which  may  be  thus  represented:  "Pi^aise  ye  the 
Loi^d ;  pi?aise  ye  the  name  of  the  Loi^d ;  pi?aise  him,  O  ye 
Sei^vants  of  the  Loi^d."  The  effect  was  great,  and  the  click  of 
the  articulating  wheel-work  almost  drove  me  out  of  the  pulpit. 

I  spent  two  charming  hours  to-day  at  the  Protestant  Half- 
Orphan  Asylum,  where  I  speechified ;  175  children.  Wetmore, 
who  conducts  the  City  mission,  &c.,  is  an  extraordinary  man. 
He  is  ten  hours  every  day  at  ironmongery,  yet  labours  beyond 
every  body  else  in  religious  matters,  and  is  withal  as  gentleman- 
like a  man  as  you  will  find  in  a  summer's  day.  What  a  mean, 
nasty,  anti-analogical  word  "  reliable  "  is.  Fanny  Kemble  laughs 
at  "  Bakery  ;  "  what  would  she  say  of  "  Bindery,"  and  "  Paint- 
ery,"  which  I  see  passim.  In  due  time,  a  church  may  be  called 
a  '•  preachery." 

I  am  now  in  the  8th  chapter  of  Hebrews.  I  have  never  had 
an  exercise  more  acceptable.  To  myself,  I  trust,  it  has  been 
useful,  as  leading  me  to  dwell  much  on  the  very  marrow  and 
riches  of  gospel  grace.  One  thing,  to  my  mind,  above  all  others, 
grovrs  in  centrality  (ut  ita  dicam)  among  converting  doctrines  ; 
the  infinite,  sovereign,  freeness  of  grace,  through  the  death  of 
Christ.  Within  a  few  days  I  have  been  directed  to  several  per- 
sons, who,  I  think,  are  savingly  exercised. 

New  York,  December  23,  1845. 

I  have  never  yet  felt  the  argument  to  be  demonstrative  which 
would  keep  a  poor  bedridden  creature  from  ever  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  I  preached  on  War,  at  great  length,  a  fortnight 
agone.  Elders  and  Trustees  were  for  printing  It ;  but  I  was 
wiser  than  all  that.  South,  in  his  sermons,  constantly  uses 
"  shew  "  for  the  perfect  tense  of  "  show,"  (blow,  blew,  grow, 
grew,  &;c. ;)  but  Sorin  and  Ball's  edition  (Phila.)  constantly 
makes  it  "  show,"  supposing  it  a  various  spelling  of  "  show."  I 
never  have  read  as  keen  a  writer  as  South ;  nor  one  one  judice 
of  better  style. 

Jones  has  made  a  valuable  and  most  entertaining  book.^     I 

^  Dr.  Joseph  H.  Jones's  "  Influence  of  Physical  Causes  on  Religious  Expe- 
rience," enlarged  in  1860  in  his  volume  entitled  "Man  Moral  and  Physical." 


4:4:      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUAKE   ST.   CHrEClI,   NEW  YOEK. 

trust  you  will  apply  the  principles  anent  reporting,  exemplified 
in  the  "slips"  of  your  lecture,  to  the  newspaper  report  of  my 
sermon  on  Dod.  The  Observer  makes  me  say  at  least  ten 
things  which  I  did  not  say,  and  leaves  out  every  one  of  the 
qualifications  on  which  I  laid  much  stress,  and  my  earnest  at- 
tempt to  withdraw  notice  from  D.'s  metaphysics  to  the  simplici- 
ties of  his  dvintr  hour. 

makes  a  prayer  which  one  feels  and  remembers :  I  think 

this  is  a  point  which  I  observe  more  than  formerly.  The  Offer- 
tory [Christmas]  is  promising ;  one  turkey,  two  barrels  apples, 
one  do.  flour,  half  do.  sugar,  one  wrapper.  I  have  preached,  this 
evening,  on  Eph.  vi.  19,  20  ;  look  at  it.  I  used  to  see  a  number 
of  things  from  Germany,  at  Princeton,  which  I  miss  now.  It 
reminds  me  of  what  Lamb  says,  about  missing  the  stationery  of 
the  India  House  :  "When  Adam  laid  out  his  first  penny  upon  non- 
pareils in  Mesopotamia,  I  think  it  went  hard  with  him,  reflecting 
on  his  old  goodly  orchard,  where  he  had  so  many  for  nothing." 
I  hope  to  have  my  father  and  mother  here,  on  New  Year's,  when 
w^e  desire  our  boy  to  be  baptized.  The  absence  of  Quakers  in 
New  York  is  wonderful.  I  have  never  seen  one  in  full  rig,  and 
do  not  meet  any  kind  of  j)erceivable  ones  more  than  once  in  a 
month.  But  we  have  an  Armenian  store,  with  "  Notions  "  from 
Stamboul.  Our  confectioners  and  toymen  are  in  high  feather. 
Wild  turkeys  and  venison  abound.  Gentlemen  wear  "  shawls," 
London-wise,  also  a  very  thick-soled,  sensible  English  shoe. 
Our  Executive  Committee  have,  for  months,  been  anxiously 
endeavouring,  by  correspondence  with  our  missionaries,  and  with 
other  societies,  to  mature  a  plan  for  the  education  of  mission- 
aries' children.  It  is  a  painful  and  delicate  subject.  On  Monday 
we  were  two  hours  upon  it. 

Sunday  School  Meetings  are  common  here  on  Christmas. 
My  sexton,  who  is  here  just  now,  says  he  has  a  brother  named 
Ole,  and  that  Christmas  in  Danish  is  Yule.  The  words  of  my 
good  fiither  become  more  and  more  precious  to  me,  like  the 
books  of  the  Tarquinian  Sibyl ;  I  therefore  copy  what  follows 
from  his  last  letter : 

"  As  to  the  effects  of  the  truth  preached,  never  doubt  that 
every  faithful  sermon  will  produce  its  effect ;  it  will  not  return 
void.  Give  it  efficacy  by  prayer.  If  you  have  any  persons  in 
the  church  who  are  mighty  in  prayer,  engage  them  to  pray  for 
the  success  of  the  gospel.  Payson  instituted  little  circles,  called 
'  Aaron-and-Hur-societies,' the  sole  object  of  which  was  to  pray 
every  Sunday  morning  for  the  success  of  the  word  preached." 


1844—1849.  45 

Ne-w  York,  January  16,  1846. 

Knowins:  your  dislike  to  thin  paper,  I  have  now  provided 
some,  which  I  know  will  suit  you  to  a  nicety.  I  have  "been  sit- 
ting for  my  "  effigies,"  as  Cromwell  calls  it ;  a  mean  business. 
Prof.  Henry  thinks  the  late  discovery  of  the  late  Michael  Fara- 
day, of  the  relation  of  electro-magnetism  to  light,  the  greatest 
made  in  our  day.  He  has  also  examined  the  talking-machine,  [an 
automaton,]  and  pronounces  it  valid  and  wonderful. 

For  some  time  I  have  not  had  access  to  Inman's  chamber. 
To-day  I  was  sent  for  with  a  message  that  he  was  dying.  He 
had  just  (vix  et  ne  vix  quidem)  finished  a  portrait  of  Harper. 
Certaiuly  he  is  great  in  that  line.  Perhaps  you  have  seen  his 
$1,000  full  length  of  Bishop  White.  His  Chalmers,  Words- 
worth, and  Macaulay,  are  great.  There  are,  I  think,  no  services 
in  which  we  need  a  prescribed  schedule,  more  than  those  which 
come  often,  as  for  example,  sacramental  preparations  :  they  are 
apt  to  be  the  same  thing  over  and  over.  For  many  months  I 
have  been  going  over  our  Lord's  own  preparatory  words  and 
acts,  in  the  Gospels.  Last  Sabbath  four  on  examination,  and 
fifteen  on  certificate.  Tliree  hundred  dollars  anonymously  for 
Theological  Seminary.  In  preaching  on  Home  Missions,  on 
"  Sabbath  first,"  I  shall  touch  a  little  on  War  again  ;  text, 
"  Righteousness  exalteth,"  &c.  ISfr.  [E.  F.]  Cooley  miojht  have 
gone  back  much  further  with  his  [edition  of  the  New  England] 
primer  :  I  wait  for  a  chance  to  send  3'ou  an  exact  reprint  of  that 
of  17T7 ;  some  of  the  lectiones  are  fine;  e.  g. : 

C.  "  Christ  crucify'd  For  sinners  cly'd." 

D.  '•  The  Deluge  drown'd  The  Earth  around." 

E.  "Elijah  hid  By  Ravens  fed." 

F.  "  The  Judgment  made  Felix  afraid." 

L.    '•  Lot  fled  to  Zoar,  Saw  fiery  Shower,  On  Sodom  pour." 

T.    "  Young  Timothy  Learnt  sin  to  fly." 

Dr.  Potts  has  one  hundred  at  his  catechizins:,  and  sixtv  ladies 
at  his  Dorcas  Society.  I  am  glad  S.  has  shown  the  pole-bags 
to  be  means  of  grace,  for  they  have  hitherto  lacked  due  reverence 
of  me.^  What  a  euphonious  title,  that  of  his  Oglethorpe  Univer- 
sity Address :  "  Denominational  Education."  I  have  a  young 
merchant,  in  ample  business,  who  studies  the  Greek  Testament, 
with  lexicon  and  commentaries.  The  abolitionists  seem  to  have 
adopted  a  motto  from  Julius  C^sar  :  "  Help,  Cassius,  [Clay,]  or 

T  sink  !  "     The [a  religious  paper]  is  obviously  improving. 

Do  I  err  in  detecting  your  hand  in  the  item  on  ''  Preparing 

^  In  the  times  of  "Pine  St.  Church,"  the  usual  Sunday  "collections" 
were  taken  with  velvet  bags  at  the  end  of  long  handles. 


46       WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DUANE   ST.  CHUECH,   NEW  TOEK. 

Potcatoes  for  Stock?"  Who  contributes  the  piece,  in  the  same 
on  "  Save  your  Salt  Barrels  "  ?  I  have  sought  for  an  anagogical 
or  mystical  meaning  in  this  last.  How  touching  the  allusion  to 
"  glanders,  grease,  mange,  blindness,  coughs,  and  broken  wind  "  ! 
What  is  your  judgment  of  crib-biting'?  The  very  violent 
attempts  at  visible  Unity,  as  in  the  Liverpool  Convention, 
savour  of  an  unworthy  suspicion  that  there  is  no  Gospel  Union 
but  in  protocols,  and  platform  accolades.  The  unity  (ni  fallor) 
which  the  Bible  enjoins,  is  no  such  thing,  and  is  consistent  with 
great  diversity.  Push  a  ritualist,  and  how  little  he  can  show  for 
real  unity.  A  Dominican  and  a  Jesuit  are  far  more  asunder 
than  Kidder  [Methodist]  and  I,  in  dress,  in  creed,  and  in  service. 
Who  authorizes  them  to  say  that  unity  resides  in  swearing  by 
one  and  the  same  pope  1 

New  York,  January  26,  1846. 
The  evils  of  indiscriminate  reading,  even  of  religious  books, 
has  so  weighed  with  me,  that  on  Sunday  I  devoted  both  sermons 
to  "  Christian  Eeading."  Inter  alia,  I  gave  a  list  of  books,  under 
these  heads :  1.  Explanatory  of  the  Bible ;  2.  Awakening  and 
Inviting  ;  3.  Experimental  Religion  ;  4.  Theology  ;  5.  History  ; 
6.  Biography  ;  7.  Poetry;  8.  Miscellaneous,  including  Periodical. 
Our  collection  for  Domestic  Missions = $520 ;  add  $100  by  an 
individual,  and  $300  by  Young  Men =$920.  I  was  vaccinated 
last  spring,  and  had  a  perfect  pustule  ;  so  my  Doctor  says.  Islj 
father's  book  on  Colonization  is  out.  I  have  preached  three 
times  on  three  Sabbaths  this  winter ;  but  I  find  it  too  much. 
Don't  fail  to  read  the  articles  from  the  "  Times,"  on  the  Polk- 
Message,  in  the  "  Warder."  I  feel  ashamed  of  our  American 
bluster.  But  how  plain  is  it,  that  the  British  dread  a  war  far 
more  than  we  !  They  know  better  what  it  means.  I  have  a  le^ 
ter  from  Abeel,  in  Savannah ;  low  in  body,  but  triumphant  in 
mind  ;  as  he  has  been  ever  since  I  knew  him.  The  sleighing  has 
been  a  perfect  intoxication,  till  the  thaw  came.  Such  a  display 
of  costly  vehicles,  furs,  (Sec,  is  seen  nowhere  south  of  this  :  some 
had  fourteen  and  even  twenty  horses.  It  would  have  been  worth 
a  visit  to  see  the  omnibus-sleighs,  carrying  forty,  fifty,  and  sixty, 
and  bedizened  with  all  manner  of  pictures,  &c.  We  have  two 
hundred  and  fifty  omnibuses  constantly  running  in  New  York. 

Talk  of  railway  in  Hudson  street.     continues  prolific  ;  but 

how  unreadable !  a  swill-tub  of  citations.  Though  given  to 
quotation  myself,  I  think  it  below  the  highest  method.  There  is 
more  in  a  man  who  spins  all  out  e  propriis  visceribus.  This  has 
often  struck  me  in  my  good  father,— no  scraps,  no  pretty 
"  phrases,"  no  poetry,  no  Latin  sentences.     The  other  way  is  a 


1844—1849.  47 

sio-n  of  weakness :  habeas  conjitentem  reum.  Yet  still  more  am  I 
convinced  that  a  man  must  l3e  himself,  and  that  he  gains  by  fol- 
lowing his  bent.  I  have  read  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  and  believe  he 
was  a  converted  man. 

New  York,  February  19,  1846. 

If  my  little  sister  Mary  Ann  had  lived,  she  would  have  been 
thirty-five  years  old  yesterday.  This  makes  me  think  of  the 
flight  of  time,  and  of  the  mercy  of  God,  in  that  long  interval,  to 
my  flither's  house.  Mr.  Lowrie  authorizes  me  to  say,  that, 
though  the  knowleclore  of  Wilson's^  wants  did  not  all  come 
through  himself,  they  have  long  since  been  supplied,  as  far  as 
could  be  done  here.  His  troubles,  mutatis  mutandis,  are  those 
of  all  missionaries,  and  such  as  occupy  our  Monday  mornings,  all 
the  year.  You  might  properly  say  to  Wilson,  that  in  every  case 
he  should  make  known  his  wants  directly  to  the  B(^rd :  the 
reasons  are  obvious.  I  am  glad  of  your  contempt  of  weariness, 
[on  Mondays ;]  I  cannot  brag  of  the  like,  but  still  belong  to  the 
paradoxical  class  who  find  the  day  of  greatest  lassitude  immedi- 
ately after  the  day  of  greatest  labour.  The  Tabernacle  [Broad- 
way] is  filled  every  Sunday  night,  no  matter  who  preaches.  My 
church-mission-project  is  in  abeyance,  until  I  see  how  the  Presby- 
tery's plan  (for  the  same  end)  turns  out.  I  have  no  idea,  how- 
ever, of  doing  our  work  through  the  Presbytery  :  it  is  a  slow 
work.  After  all  the  outcry  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  for  a 
'•  separate  organization,"  whereby  to  give  their  benefactions  to 
domestic  missions, — ^just  look  at  their  amount  of  contributions  ! 

One  of  the  unreasonable  demands  on  a  pastor  is,  that  he 
should  like  and  dislike  the  people  whom  A,  B,  and  C  dislike. 
I  try  hard  to  let  no  prejudices  or  bickerings  afl'ect  me.  But  oh! 
what  a  disposition,  in  ourselves  and  others,  to  be  censorious  ;  to 
see  faults  before  excellencies  in  our  neighbours  ;  to  applaud  our- 
selves tacitly,  by  criticizing  others  openly,  as  to  the  points  where 
we  feel  less  vulnerable  !  I  know  no  Scripture  precept  harder 
than  that,  "  Let  each  esteem  other  better,"  &c.  Sometimes  I  am 
painfully  affected  with  the  consciousness  that  this  or  that  duty, 
which  I  have  performed,  would  certainly  have  been  neglected  or 
deferred,  if  no  human  being  were  to  have  known  it.  I  wish  I  felt 
more  the  force  of  the  phrase,  "  the  praise  which  cometh  from 
God."  Protracted  Meetings  seem  to  me  absolutely  indifferent ; 
to  be  used,  if  there  be  cause,  but  not  as  a  crack-measure  to  get 
up  excitement.     Where  there  is  a  hearing  ear,  it  seems  reasona- 

^  Thomas  Wilson,  a  coloured  man,  who  went  to  Africa  under  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  and  died  at  his  post,  September  8,  1846. 


48      WHILE   PASTOR   OF  DTJANE   ST.  CHURCH,   NEW  YORK. 

He  to  miiltiplj  instructions.     Perhaps  Edwards  (on  Revivals) 
goes  a  little  too  far  ;  but  his  general  views  strike  me  as  just. 

I  reluctantly  break  my  rule  againsst  lecturing,  in  order  to 
mendicate  in  that  way  for  the  Princeton  church.  For  three 
weeks  I  have  had  cold  and  sore  throat.  I  have  lost,  however, 
only  one  exercise  by  it,  which  was  in  the  week.  Kidder  and  I 
have  been  exchanging  calls  for  fourteen  months,  but  have  never 
met  in  a  house.  The  St.  Valentine's  day  is  so  serious  a  thing 
liere,  that  the  city  post  is  interrupted  for  three  or  four  days  ; 
they  put  on  extra  carriers,  and  have  a  special  chest  in  the  Post 
Office.  There  are  Valentines  offered  at  $200  a-piece  ;  being  in- 
genious pictured  integuments  of  gold  watches,  pins,  brooches,  &c. 

New  York,  March  16,  1846. 

It  was  only  at  a  late  hour  this  evening,  on  my  brother 
Henry's  return  from  Princeton,  that  I  heard  of  your  recent 
anxiety.  And  now  I  do  sincerely  hope  that  all  cause  of  serious 
apprehension  is  removed,  and  that  you  will  feel  at  ease  to  write 
me  soon  that  you  are  giving  thanks  for  great  deliverance.  I 
say  this  with  the  more  feeling,  as  for  a  few  days  we  have  been  in 
much  fear,  by  reason  of  the  sudden  and  severe  illness  of  our 
second  child.  He  has  had  a  fever ;  and,  though  still  confined  to  his 
bed,  is  greatly  mended.    Let  the  God  of  our  salvation  be  exalted. 

How  much,  in  time  of  sickening  fears,  we  are  made  to  feel 
our  need  of  a  direct  and  imi7iediate  Divine  influence ;  and  how 
gracious  is  the  hand  which  so  often  gives  it  to  us  !  Our  reason- 
ings, even  on  the  basis  of  the  word,  do  not  reach  the  case  in  such 
a  time. 

The  healings,  and  manifold  compassionate  acts  of  our  Lord, 
while  on  earth,  as  given  in  the  simple  narrative  of  the  gospels, 
have  been  an  unspeakable  comfort  to  me,  in  days  of  despondency. 
"  When  my  foot  slipped,  thy  mercy,  O  Lord,  held  me  up." 

New  York,  Jfarch  24,  1846. 
The  Gospel  is  not  attractive  enough  for  people  now-a-days. 
Ministers  must  bait  their  trap  with  something  else.  The  old- 
fashioned  topics  are  seldom  heard.  This  diminishes  one's  wonder 
at  the  small  progress  made  in  spirituals.  The  following  is 
taken,  just  as  it  stands,  from  the  Journal  of  Commerce.^      A 

^  Here  followed  a  few  advertisements  of  sermons  on  "the  IIolv  Week 
at  Eome,"  "Washington  the  Friend  of  Peace,"  ''The  Influence  of  Calvin," 
"  Signs  of  Stability  and  Decay  in  the  Government  of  our  Country,"  &c. ; 
but  the  custom  has  become  so  familiar  since  the  date  above,  and  the  incon- 
gruous subjects  so  multii^lied,  that  the  notices  pasted  in  the  letter  would  not 
now  seem  curious. 


18M— 1819.  49 

sermon  which  I  preached  on  the  15th,  seems  to  have  been 
graciously  owned  to  the  awakening  of  two  persons.  It  is  a 
sermon  above  all  I  have,  remarkable  for  two  faults  :  first,  it  is 
common-place ;  secondly,  it  is  flowery.  Mr.  Begg,  of  Edinburgh, 
is  to  preach  for  us  next  Sunday  evening.  He  is  a  very  warm, 
interesting  preacher.  Like  all  the  Scotch,  he  interweaves  Scrip- 
ture passages,  out  of  the  common  line,  in  a  way  to  surprise  and 
charm.  My  Presbyterian  folio,  for  the  Blind,  is  published  by 
the  Board.  It  contains,  1,  Prayers;  2,  Hymns;  3,  The  Cate- 
chism ;  4,  A  Compend  of  Doctrine,  by  my  father.  I  have  not, 
since  McCheyne's,  had  such  a  treat  as  in  "  Housman's  Life," 
just  published  by  Carter.  I  am  just  about  to  have  my  fa- 
vourite tract  "  Poor  Joseph,"  printed  in  large  type,  with 
covers,  for  the  aged  and  for  poor  readers.  We  collected  8600 
in  February  for  Education,  and  about  the  same  in  March,  for 
the  Bible  Society.  Dr.  S.  has  come  over  to  our  views, 
against  public  aisle-covenant,  at  communions,  after  practising 
thirty  years  the  other  way.  Addison's  first  volume  [Isaiah]  is  all 
"  in  hands,"  and  daily  expected.  A  stranger  lately  gave  me 
$250  for  colportage.  "Walsh's  letters,  in  the  National  Intel- 
ligencer, are  equal  to  his  best  days.  Don't  flxil  to  read  every 
extract  in  the  "  Warder,"  from  the  Examiner.  I  never  saw 
such  a  sustained  wdt,  as  in  the  leaders  of  that  paper.  Savage 
Landor  is  said  to  write  many  of  them.  A  Chinaman,  with  tails, 
&c.,  parades  our  streets.  First  fruits  of  our  mission  at  Amoy, 
are  reported.  Abeel  is  expected  here  every  day.  In  our  chief 
churches  here,  the  praise  of  God  is  now  performed  by  committee, 
and  sometimes  by  a  very  small  one.  In  some  tunes,  I  am  sure, 
not  more  than  six  constitute  the  acting-worshippers.  Why  not 
one?  Instrumental  Worship  would  be  a  good  title  for  an  Essay. 
Begg  says  it  was  overwhelming,  at  Inverness,  to  hear  15,000 
voices,  all  joining,  sub  dio,  in  the  old  psalms.     O  to  hear  it ! 

New  York,  April  8,  1846. 
The  lowest  down-town  church  is  the  North  Dutch,  then  Yande 
water  St.,  (Free  Episcopal,)  then  Dr.  Spring's,  then  ours.  I 
manage  somehow  to  have  a  third  service  almost  every  Sunday. 
My  article  in  the  Repertory  ["Metaphysical  Theology  of  the 
Schoolmen "]  has  some  brilliant  typographic  variations,  as 
"  hired  for  hindered."  It  is  w^orth  coming  to  New  York  to  see 
the  power-presses  in  the  Bible  House.  One  of  the  most  learned 
Jews  is  become  a  Christian ;  to  my  knowdedge.  He  does  not 
wish  it  bruited  till  he  has  prepared  a  treatise,  in  German  and 
English.  He  tried  Unitarianism,  to  avoid  the  grand  "  offence"  ; 
but  it  would  not  do ;  he  has  come  out  a  thorough  trinitarian. 
VOL.  II. — 3 


50      WHILE   PASTOR    OF   DUANE    ST.   CHUECH,   NEW  YORK. 

More  of  this  anon.  Swedenborgianism  grows.  Dr.  Potts  is 
the  star  of  our  pulpit-sky.  Cheever  is  gathering  a  Congrega- 
tional congregation  at  Union  Square.  The  interior  of  Trinity 
Church  is  grand.  The  pulpit  is  crawled  up  to,  around  one  of 
the  pillars,  as  it  were  in  a  corner.  A  pupil  of  mine  heard 
Bellows  the  other  night,  and  said  the  substance  was :  "  Be  good ; 
and  if  you  can't  be"  good,  be  as  good  as  you  can."  I  this  day 
corrected  the  title-page  of  Addison's  book.  Mr.  Eead  has  a 
revival.  I  cannot  dismiss  the  conviction,  that  the  thing  to  be 
aimed  at  is  a  warmth  which  may  be  continued ;  numbers  always 
inquiring;  additions  each  communion ;  so  necessitating  no  breach 
of  routine  in  preaching.  On  Sunday  mornings  I  always  preach 
straight  on  in  the  catechism,  except  when  my  monthly  collections 
come.  I  have  had  much  hope  from  the  effect  of  my  last  four,  on 
"Adoption,"  "Assurance,"  "Peace,"  and  "Joy."  The  new 
missionary  map  of  the  world,  (Colton's,)  14  feet  by  8,  is  worth 
having.  Y.'s  piece  takes  no  account  of  the  distinction  between 
Assurance  of  faith  and  of  ho2)e;  and  hence  he  charges  confusion  on 
our  theologians  which  does  not  exist.  This  is  the  eighteenth  letter 
or  note  (some  of  them  long)  I  have  had  to  write,  within  twenty- 
four  hours.  If  I  may  judge  in  such  a  case,  my  best  effusions  [in 
the  Sunday  School  Journal]  have  been  as  "  An  Old  Contributor." 
My  weekly  catechizing  continues  tobe  delightful  to  me.  Several 
of  the  young  people  are  very  seriously  inquiring.  We  have 
averaged  sixty  from  the  beginning.  There  is  immense  need  of 
an  Explanation  of  the  Catechism,  not  to  exceed  100  pages,  and 
with  these  qualities:  1.  Simplicity.  2.  The  breaking  of  the 
matter  into  short  —  very  short  questions  and  answers.  3. 
Avoiding  unnecessary  accumulation  of  texts.  4.  Absence  of 
school-divinity.  A  member  of  my  church  gave  81,400  to  repair 
a  country  church,  and  has  given  1200  a  year,  several  years,  to  the 
minister's  salary.  Another  member  does  as  much  for  the  Thom- 
sonville  church.  AYould  it  not  be  a  good  rule,  in  visiting,  to  con- 
trive to  repeat  a  few  verses  of  the  Bible  at  every  place  ?  How 
much  precious  matter  it  would  give  the  pastor,  for  his  medita- 
tions. Again,  might  not  a  man,  properly,  make  a  point,  in  every 
prayer  he  offers  in  houses,  to  have  a  sentence  or  two  specially 
bearing  on  his  own  pastoral  and  individual  wants  1  By  these  two 
methods,  what  we  lose  from  private  culture  might  in  a  good 
degree  be  made  up.  I  have  resorted  to  the  old  plan,  of  carrying 
select  tracts,  &c.  One  who  has  free  use  of  one's  pen,  may  gain 
much  by  little  notes,  even  to  persons  who  are  shy,  unapproach- 
able, and  unfeeling.  I  have  had  more  calls  to  converse  with 
people  on  religion,  lately,  than  ever  before. 


1844—18^9.  51 

New  York,  May  11,  1846. 

Your  letter  reveals  to  me  that  you  are  not  altogether  relieved 
from  your  anxieties.  I  lately  preached  on  Mark  ix.  19 ;  a  sub- 
ject which  I  felt  a  good  deal  myself,  in  reference  to  some  former 
domestic  experiences,  and  which  seemed  to  affect  my  people  more 
than  usual.  Direct  bringing  of  our  cares  to  Christy  is  a  duty 
or  privilege  less  practised  than  is  thought.  If  we  ventured  more 
on  Him,  (unless  the  very  term  savours  of  unbelief,)  we  should 
doubtless  have  more  to  praise  for.  See  Psalm  xxxiv.  4 — 6. 
Is  not  our  Christianity  derived  too  much  from  report,  from  a  sort 
of  average,  from  common  experience  of  those  about  us,  and  not 
from  the  simple  Word?  You  will  find  some  sweet,  useful  things 
in  the  "  Mount  of  Olives,"  a  pendant  to  "  Life  in  Earnest." 

Yesterday  was  our  Communion ;  seventeen  on  certificate, 
and  eight  on  examination.  A  Free  Church  minister,  Mr.  Steven- 
son, was  with  us,  but  did  not  partake.  Another,  Dr.  Willis, 
of  Glasgow,  has  been  here.  They  adhere  boldly  to  their  plan 
of  sending  over  settled  pastors  of  some  note,  on  missions  of 
three  months,  to  Canada.  This  strikes  me  as  a  noble  plan,  fitted 
to  do  great  good,  at  least  to  the  deputies  themselves. 

How  can  I  pray  for  a  blessing  on  our  fight  with  Mexico  ! 
Poor  creatures,  they  have  done  as  little  against  us  as  we  could 
have  expected.  As  a  Christian  nation,  we  should  have  sent 
them  the  Gospel ;  but  now,  unless  God  interpose  wonderfully, 
we  shall  rob  and  invade  them.  Who  knows  but  that  we  may 
find  ourselves  engaged  with  a  stronger  than  they  1 

I  am  more  and  more  of  opinion,  that  the  great  Missionary 
work  of  America  should  be  among  the  two  races  which  we  have 
most  injured,  viz.,  the  black  and  the  red.  I  have  misgivings 
whenever  we  send  men  to  Northern  India,  (British  ground,) 
and  neglect  the  perfectly  open  field  among  our  Indians.  The 
government  yields  every  facility  for  the  prosecution  of  this 
work.  To-day  I  heard  a  letter  read,  in  which  the  Superintendent 
of  Indian  Affairs  offers  to  accompany  our  Secretary,  in  a  tour 
among  all  the  Western  Tribes.  We  all  feel  that  this  work 
presses  on  us  more  than  heretofore.     The  intercourse  of  a  year 

with ,  has  led  me  to  set  him  down  as  one  of  the  best  men 

living ;  for  honesty,  generosity,  self-denial,  greatness  of  love,  good 
sense,  and  zeal  for  God.  He  seems  to  me  to  have  the  heart  of  a 
father,  towards  every  one  of  the  missionaries ;  and  when  he  en- 
gages in  the  harassing  labour  of  purchasing  for  China,  Africa,  or 
the  Indians,  does  it  as  for  dear  children.  Old-fashioned  pastors  are 
about  as  common  as  knee-breeches.  Literary  clergymen  abound. 
Europe  is  like  to  have  a  full  representation  this  summer.  The 
question  will  soon  be,  "  Who  has  not  been  in  Europe  V     I  con- 


52      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUANE    ST.   CHUECH,  NEW   YORE". 

fess  I  should  like  to  spend  three  months  in  the  Free  Church,  to 
try  and  find  out  the  secret  of  their  ardour.  Beyond  this,  the 
longing  for  Europe,  which  haunted  me  for  years,  is  all  gone. 

New  York,  May  28,  1846. 
I  am  occasionally  struck  with  the  force  of  a  phrase  in  the 
Greek,  M-hich  is  lost  in  our  own  version :  ex.  gr.  Romans  xvi.  25, 
or€(TLyr]}xevoL^  That  chapter  is  a  great  trap  for  orthoepists. 
Urbane  ought  to  be  Urban,  as  it  is  in  the  old  English  version, 
being  a  man's  name.  Andronicus,  Aristobulus,  and  Epenetus, 
are  seldom  hit  right.  Next  Sunday  I  hope  to  preach  a  Sunday 
School  sermon.  The  cause  needs  lifting  among  us.  My  little 
report  on  Parochial  schools  has  made  a  breeze  in  our  Assembly, 
which  I  was  unprepared  for.'  The  resolutions  appear  to  me 
milk-and-water  enough  for  anybody.  Yet  I  feel  no  zeal  for 
them,  beyond  this,  that  I  should  like  the  skirt  of  the  Assembly 
to  be  cast  over  those  who  are  attempting  church-schools.  I  see 
no  proof  that  Onesimus  ever  ran  away,  in  the  technical  sense,  at 
all.  I  can  go  a  peg  higher  than  you  about  slavery,  and  fail  to 
see  the  scripturalness  of  much  that  is  postulated  now-a-days, 
respecting  the  popular  idol,  liberty.  As  existing,  slavery  is 
fraught  with  moral  evil ;  the  want  of  marriage,  and  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  separation  of  families,  &c.,  &c.,  are  crying  sins  ; 
but  I  am  totally  unable  to  see  the  relation  to  be  necessarily 
unjust.  The  moral  questions  are  so  various  from  the  circum- 
stances, that  each  must  be  decided  apart,  e.  g.,  "  Is  A  justifiable 
in  holding  B  to  service  1 "  Our  church,  I  am  clear,  ought  to 
protest  against  the  laws  about  reading,  &c.  As  clear  am  I,  that 
our  States  should  regard  slavery  as  a  transition-state,  to  be 
terminated  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  they  should  enact  laws 
about  the  post-nati.  That  the  most  miserable  portion,  physically 
and  morally,  of  the  black  race  in  the  United  States,  is  the 
portion  which  is  free,  1  am  as  well  assured  as  I  can  be  of  any 
similar  proposition.  That  immediate  emancipation  would  be  a 
crime,  I  have  no  doubt ;  and  therefore  believe  there  are  cases  in 
which  there  is  neither  injustice  nor  inhumanity  in  holding.  I 
have  had  but  eleven  weddings  in  New  York,  and  only  half  a- 
dozen  in  my  own  charge.  Dr.  Cox  once  met  my  good  Puritan 
brother,  Greenleaf,  and  as  his  wont  is,  saluted  him  in  Latin,  to 
which  G.  replied,  "  Let  him  that  speaketh  in  an  unknown  tongue 

^  In  our  version  "  kept  secret ;  "  in  "Wiclif 's,  "  liolden  still." 
^  The  General  Assembly  of  1844  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  the 
expediency  of  establishing  Presbyterian  Parochial  Schools.  Of  this  commit- 
tee Dr.  Alexander,  though  not  in  the  Assembly,  was  chairman.  The  report 
was  not  ready  until  the  Assembly  of  1846,  when  it  was,  after  some  debate, 
adopted  and  ordered  to  be  printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Minutes  of  that  year. 


lSJ:i— 18J:9.  53 

pray  that  he  may  interpret,"  Cox  is  fond  of  tinkering  about 
the  top  of  his  house  and  sheds.  Greenleaf,  seeing  him  thus  aloft, 
gave  him  this  text  to  expound  :  "  What  aileth  thee  now,  that 
thou  art  wholly  gone  up  to  the  house-tops '? " 

New  York,  June  15,  1846. 
My  father  spent  last  week  with  us.  Gen.  Scott,  of  soup- 
memory,  is  now  called  Marshal  Tureen.  We  have  set  up 
Cornish  in  a  coloured  congregation — Potts  and  I  becoming 
responsible  for  the  rent  of  the  room.  My  congregation  is  per- 
ceptibly thinning.  Our  lieut.-governor,  Gardiner,  of  Rochester, 
worships  with  us  when  he  is  in  town.  He  is  a  pious  man,  and 
a  zealous  Sunday  School  teacher.  If  this  treaty  with  England 
really  goes  into  effect,  we  shall  have  occasion  for  heartfelt  thanks. 
As  to  Mexico,  I  fear  their  defiles  and  sierras  will  give  them  oppor- 
tunity to  protract  the  war,  much  beyond  present  expectations. 
Five  members  of  one  family  in  our  church  are  in  Paris,  or  on 
the  way.  The  Central  Church  committee  [seeking  a  pastor] 
called  here  on  Wednesday,  on  their  way  to  Troy,  as  fond  and 
avid  as  ever  the  Greeks  were  after  Helen.  Seekers  of  vacancies 
are  as  abundant  as  crows  in  a  cornfield.  I  believe  I  am  solicitor 
for  a  dozen  at  this  moment.  All  make  for  the  cities.  Young 
probationers  all  hover  about  home.  Quere :  whether,  in  the 
present  destitution  of  the  West,  every  candidate  for  orders 
should  not  be  compelled  to  do  two  years  of  missionary  service  ? 
It  would  be  a  good  test.  I  wish  I  had  means  to  draw  up  a 
schedule  of  the  licentiates  of  the  last  five  years,  and  where  they 
are.  Among  persons  who  desire  vacancies  are  four  or  five 
settled  ministers.  Van  Rensselaer  is  full  of  a  new  magazine. 
["Presbyterian  Magazine,"  began  in  1851.]  I  think  I  should 
like  to  write  bits  for  such  a  thing,  sometimes ;  so  would  you. 
Though  I  did  not  doubt  that  Taylor  would  be  nominated  for 
President,  I  did  not  surmise  that  Trenton  and  Tucker  would  have 
the  honour  of  taking  the  initiative.  I  saw  a  gold-headed  cane, 
to-day,  made  of  wood  from  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  in 
America,  the  old  McKemie  church  of  Accomac,  Va.  It  was  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Locke,  a  minister  of  Northampton,  Va.  It  is 
marked  "  1690."  Trinity  Church  is  open  at  9i-  and  4  for  prayers, 
daily.  This  I  like,  Pusey  or  no  Pusey.  Yet  it  never  comes  to 
aught  in  practice.  Have  you  read  the  "  Fox  and  the  Geese  "  ?  It 
lacks  all  probability,  and  is  in  my  opinion  a  sheer  invention,  to 
be  added  to  the  fictitious  literature  of  the  day,  concerning  which 
see  "  American  Messenger,"  passim.  It  encourages  expectations 
which  can  never  be  realized,  of  seeing  elephants  keeping  shop, 
and  using  their  trunks  for  dry-goods.     It  is  erroneous  in  point 


54      WHILE   PASTOK    OF   DrANE   ST.  CHUKCH,   NEW  YOEK. 

of  natural  history.  The  goose  {anas  anser,  Linn.)  is  not 
endowed  with  the  faculty  of  speech,  like  some  of  the  genus 
Psiitacus;  and  to  represent  it  as  thatching  its  house,  is  absurd. 
But  the  ridiculous  falsity  of  the  book  may  be  considered  as  aii 
comble,  when  the  common  fox  {vulj^es  caUida,  Linn.)  is  repre- 
sented as  carrying  a  torch.     This  in  a  religious  age,  and  in  the 

nineteenth  century !  ^ 

New  York,  June  29,  1846. 

Dr.  Eice  came  in  this  evening  from  his  mission  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts General  Association  at  Pepperell.  He  says  the  Con- 
gregationalists  are  blowing  up  the  sectarian  flame  very  hard,  and 
labouring  to  propagate  their  "  distinctive  "  principles.  Congre- 
gational "Puseyism  "is  funny  enough.  I  wish  you  would  read 
Schaff's  famous  book  ;  ["  Historical  Development "  ?]  Cryout 
as  we  may,  he  tells  us  some  plain  truths,  and  reveals  things 
which  none  but  a  transatlantic  eye  could  discern.  It  is  a  most 
exciting  and  suggestive  volume,  with  a  figment  for  the  hypo- 
thesis, %ut  great  genius,  learning,  and  truth  in  many  of  the 
details.  I  have  always  felt  the  force  of  what  he  says  about  the 
Puritans  having  cut  to  the  quick,  in  regard  to  externals ;  about 
the  charity  we  should  have  for  Papists  ;  and  about  the  evils  of 
innumerable  sects.  But  he  goes  fearfully  far,  about  visible 
unity.  The  dread  of  Millenarianism  has  sealed  the  mouths  of 
too  ^iiany  of  us,  I  think,  in  respect  to  the  Second  Coming. 
There  is  a  great  deal  about  it  in  the  New  Testament.  If  others 
teach  a  false  second-advent,  why  should  not  we,  all  the  more 
earnestly,  enforce  the  true  1  I  have  no  recollection  of  having 
ever  heard  any  brother  preach  on  it.  We  have  (Potts  and  I)  at 
length  got  our  Old  School  coloured  church  a-going.  I  have  thus 
far^fiiiled  entirely  to  get  a  room  for  our  Duane  St.  Mission- 
Church.  But  there  seems  to  be  a  readiness  among  our  people. 
Waterbury  has  accepted  the  call  to  St.  Bowdoin's,  (I  merely 
transpose  the  "  St.")  A  very  large  proportion  of  my  flock  is  now 
in  rustication;  their  place  is  very  much  filled  by  travellers. 
The  constant  presence  of  such,  governs  my  preparations  more 
than  it  did.     Some  very  encouraging  things  have  occurred,  from 

1  This  ironical  notice  of  the  objections  to  fables  and  fictions  reminds 
one  of  the  lines  of  Cowpov,  which  the  letter-writer  quoted  in  a  graver  article 
on  the  same  subject  long  before  this,  (Sunday  School  Journal,  January 

9,  18S3.) 

"  I  shall  not  ask  Jean  Jacques  Eousseau 
If  birds  confabulate  or  no ; 
'Tis  clear  that  they  were  always  able 
To  hold  discourse— at  least  in  fable  ; 
And  e'en  the  child  who  knows  no  better, 
Than  to  interpret  by  the  letter 
A  story  of  a  cock  and  bull, 
Must  have  a  most  uncommon  skull." 


1844—1849.  55 

lime  to  time,  in  regard  to  such  drawings  of  the  bow  at  a  venture. 
1  beheld  the  other  day  about  500  new  army-recruits,  for  Mexico, 
a  most  sorry  collection  of  ragamuffins.  My  proximity  to  the 
arsenal  gives  me  plenty  of  this  playing  at  soldiers.  Another 
Free  Church  minister  was  here  to-day,  from  Canada,  where  he 
has  been  preaching,  almost  daily,  for  several  months  in  Gaelic. 
His  name  is  MacTavish,  from  Inverness-shire  :  a  plain,  honest, 
warm  fellow.  Williamson,  who  preaches  here  in  one  of  the 
French  Protestant  churches,  is  a  native  of  London,  yet  speaks 
broken  English,  having  been  "  raised "  in  France.  He  is  an 
evangelical  Episcopalian. 

Princeton,  July  22,  1846. 
Addison  is  in  my  place  in  New  York  ;  but  for  no  reason  but 
that  of  a  more  perfect  seclusion,  in  order  to  complete  his  work. 
He  has  finished  to  the  end  of  the  57th  chap.,  since  the  first 
volume  was  published.  He  is  almost  overwhelmed  by  it,  and  I 
do  not  wonder  he  escapes  all  engagements  when  he  can.  I  feel 
no  sympathy  with  your  Quaker  pro]3ensities.  There  is,  indeed, 
something  good  in  Gurney,  videlicet,  the  very  part  which  is  not 
Quaker,  and  for  which  his  tribe  are  ready  to  abjure  him.  When 
I  consider  their  anilities  about  coats,  days,  and  grammar,  and  the 
fruits  they  have  borne,  I  feel  no  regret  that  they  are  so  near 
dissolution.  Their  way  of  treating  death  and  eternal  things,  and 
their  opiates  to  all  conscience,  except  that  of  mint,  anise,  and 
cummin,  make  their  influence  a  most  irreligious  one  wherever  I 
have  met  them. 

New  York,  August  25,  1846.^ 
I  will  not  inquire  how  you  were  affected  by  a  sight  of  the 
"  Falls,"  [Niagara.]  I  remember  the  great  object,  with  a  sort 
of  religious'  awe.  None  of  our  Heavenly  Father's  works  seems 
more  expressive  of  his  sublime,  incomprehensible  greatness. 
Yet,  I  dare  say,  so  far  as  pleasure  in  concerned,  you  more  value 
the  moment  in  which  you  met  with  your  children.  There  is  a 
depth  of  joy  in  such  affections,  which  no  external  objects  can 
produce. 

I  am  writing  in  my  solitary  house ;  having  returned  to  the 
city  without  my  family.  We  were  afraid  to  bring  our  infant 
back  too  suddenly  from  the  purer  air  of  the  country.  Of  my 
season  of  holidays  I  spent  ten  days  at  Saratoga,  with  much 
advantage,  and  four  or  five  at  Long  Branch,  with  none  at  all : 
for  I  took  a  cold  and  cough,  under  which  I  am  still  labouring. 
The  place  of  our  daily  duties,  with  all  its  cares,  is,  after  all, 

'  This  letter  was  addressed  to  one  of  the  family  of  the  editor  of  the  cor- 
respondence. 


56       WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUANE    ST.   CHUECII,  NEW  TOEK. 

the  place  where  we  are  usually  most  happy.  This  I  feel  very 
sensibly  on  my  return  to  New  York.  Though  almost  over- 
whelmed with  the  press  of  matters  which  have  been  waiting  for 
me,  I  am  nevertheless  rejoiced  to  be  at  home. 

Let  us  be  instructed  by  the  many  mercies  which  we  receive, 
to  trust  our  God  and  Saviour  more  implicitly,  and  to  yield  our- 
selves to  his  service  with  more  entire  resignation  of  all  that  we 
have  and  are.  To  write  and  to  say  such  things  is  easy,  but  we 
need  special  grace  to  enable  us  in  any  degree  to  realize  such  a 
character  of  mind  and  life.  A  cheerfid  reliance  on  God,  and  a 
firm  hope  in  his  promises,  are  great  part  of  our  duty  ;  and  these 
tempers  should  be  encouraged  in  us,  by  every  new  instance  of 
Divine  compassion. 

You  will  understand  nie  when  I  say,  that  home  is  not  home 
without  my  children.  I  am  more  dependent  than  most  men, 
for  personal  comfort,  on  the  presence  of  my  immediate  flimily- 
circle.  I  pray  for  the  hour  when,  by  God's  favour,  we  may  be 
gathered  once  more. 

New  York,  Septemher  1,  1846. 

The  summer  is,  by  no  means,  over  ;  and  I  am  not  sure  that 
I  do  not  feel  the  heat  more  than  in  July  ;  we  have,  however,  a 
very  perceptible  sea-breeze  towards  evening,  and  the  nights  are 
not  at  all  oppressive.  Addison  finished  his  second  volume,  in- 
cluding a  large  introduction.  I  communicated  your  strictures  to 
him.  He  says  his  ow^n  private  wish  always  was  to  make  a  com- 
mentary of  the  popular  sort,  and  that  he  was  overruled  by  his 
friends  and  advisers. 

Those  of  my  people  who  pretend  to  pass  the  summer  in  the 
country,  are  still  abroad.  Yet  our  congregations  have  been 
full ;  ill  part  from  other  churches,  in  part  from  the  hotels.  I 
never  saw  the  latter  more  overflowing.  Mr.  Wetmore,  our 
indefatigable  Tract-and-City-mission-man,  not  long  since  said  at 
a  meeting  :  "  New  York  Christians  appear  to  think  that  souls 
cannot  be  converted  in  the  month  of  August."  Gospel-efforts, 
like  Oysters,  are  for  the  months  which  have  an  R  in  them.  I  have 
been  reading  John  Foster's  life,  with  more  pain  than  pleasure.' 
A  great,  original  genius,  but  too  radical,  too  censorious,  too  con- 
temptuous of  his  brethren,  too  prone  to  see  good  only  in  his 
own  ways.     I  greatly  prefer  Hall,  or  even  Jay. 

New  York,  September  28,  1846. 
I  have  been  somewhat  occupied  in  getting  my  fiimWy  home, 
wdiich  is  one  reason  why  I  have  not  written.     Our  police  now 
constitute  a  strong  body,  being  visible  at   numerous  stations, 

^  He  had  reviewed  Foster's  Essays  in  the  Repertory,  October,  1844. 


ISitt— 1849.  57 

well  understood,  with  conspicuous  badges.  Two  fire-companies 
have  been  disbanded,  since  I  came  here,  for  fighting ;  the  only 
instances  of  disorder  in  the  corps.  Our  fires  are  very  silent 
affairs.  Niblo's  garden  and  theatre  were  burnt  down,  without 
any  cry  in  the  streets.  Stewart's  new  store  is  considered,  and 
I  dare  say  justly,  the  greatest  dry-goods  shop  in  the  world. 
The  sales,  on  three  days,  were  $30,000.  A  withered  old  apple- 
woman  used  to  sit  on  the  step  of  his  old  store.  Stewart,  on 
removing,  sent  his  porter  for  the  old  body's  basket,  and  she  now 
graces  his  marble  threshold.  Of  the  returned  members  from 
the  Holy  [Evangelical]  Alliance,  I  have  chatted  with  Forsyth 
and  De  Witt.  Both  were  chiefly  impressed  by  Baptist  Noel. 
De  Witt  says  it  is  worth  a  voyage  to  look  at  him,  and  that  he 
made  the  speech,  par  excellence.  They  also  talk  with  admira- 
tion of  Adolphe  Monod  and  Tholuck.  De  Witt  reports  a  few 
hopeful  things  about  the  churches  of  Holland.  Elliott  Cresson 
sent  the  Autocrat  [Emperor  of  Russia]  a  copy  of  my  father's 
Colonization  Book.  The  oldest  lawyers  in  New  York  (Matthews 
of  Rochester)  and  New  Jersey  (Smith  Scudder)  have  died 
within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other. 

I  am  very  busy  in  looking  up  my  people.  In  this  long- 
street-city  it  is  no  short  job.  This  morning  I  had  an  affecting 
conversation  with  a  lady,  of  Quaker  education,  who  has  long 
been  feeling  her  way  in  the  dark  towards  religion.  Probably  it 
was  the  first  conversation  she  ever  had  on  the  subject.  Such 
instances,  I  fear,  are  very  numerous.  It  was  pleasing  to  preach 
the  news  of  a  free  gospel  to  one  who  had  not  been  hardened  to 
its  phrases.  The  Free  Church  people  of  Scotland  are  amazed 
at  our  Assembly's  decision  on  Romish  baptism.  I  have  just 
been  down  to  chat  with  Mr.  Leckie,  a  Scotch  parishioner  of 
mine.  His  father,  a  secession  minister  of  Peebles,  raised  a  family 
of  ten  sons  and  three  daughters,  on  a  stipend  of  £120,  educated 
five  of  them  at  the  University,  and  died  without  owing  a  penny. 
Bp.  Ilowley,  now  Archbishop,  on  hearing  the  circumstances,  gave 
the  widow  £10.  I  have  lately  obtained  the  copy  of  Milton 
which  my  mother's  father  had  read  to  him  during  his  blindness. 
You  have  no  idea  what  a  place  New  York  is  for  musquitoes 
(moschettoes.)  But  the  natives  tell  you  it  is  nothing.  It  is 
remarkable  how  generally  these  Scotch  merchants  have  had  a 
liberal  education.  This  is  fine  weather  for  all  sorts  of  people, 
and  I  hope  you  are  all  in  good  health.     Adieu. 

New  York,  October  12,  1846. 
The  passage^  is  in  the  Piinica  of  Silius  Italicus,  (vii.  41.)     It 

^  Supposed  to  illustrate  the  yoke  of  Matthew  xi.  29. 
VOL.  II. 3* 


58       WHILE    rASTOE   or   DIJANE    ST.   CHrECH,   NEW  YOEK. 

occurs  ill  a  speech  of  one  Cilnius  to  the  Poeni,  when  about  to 

deal  with  the  famous  procrastinator  Fabius.     Speaking  of  the 

latter,  he  says  : 

"  Nosces  Fabios  certamine  ab  uno. 
Veientum  populi  violata  pace  negabaut 
Acceptare  jugum,  ac  vicino  Marte  fuvebat 
Ad  portas  bellum,  consulque  ciebat  ad  arma." 

There  is  nothing  further  in  the  context,  to  clear  the  matter. 
The  passage  in  Livy  (xxxvi.  37)  relates  to  the  campaign  of 
L.  Cornelius  Scipio  against  Antiochus,  about  B.  C.  190.  The 
words  are  in  a  reply  of  S.  to  the  amljassador  of  A.,  who  had 
offered  S.  "  auri  ponclus  ingens."  They  concern  certain  offers 
of  surrendering  cities,  &c.  Scipio  says,  "  Concesso  vero  in 
Asiam  transitu,  et  non  solum  frenis,  sed  etiam  jugo  accepto,  quae 
disceptatio  ex  aequo,  quum  imperium  patienclum  sit,relicta  esti" 
The  sense  I  take  to  be  :  "  If  you  once  let  us  into  Asia,  and  thus 
submit  not  only  to  restraint,  but  subjugation,  it  is  vain  for  you 
to  talk  of  treating  on  terms  of  equality,  since  the  controversy 
is  for  sovereignty."  Dr.  Wm.  Smith,  in  Diet.  Class.  Antiq., 
says  :  "  By  another  figure,  the  yoke  meant  slavery,  or  the  con- 
dition in  ^vhich  men  were  compelled,  against  their  will,  like  oxen 
or  horses,  to  labour  for  others.  Hence  to  express  symbolically 
the  subjugation  of  conquered  nations,  the  Romans  made  their 
captives  pass  under  a  yoke,"  &c.,  i.  e.  a  spear  upon  two  other 
sjDcars  placed  upright. 

My  measure  of  experience  teaches  me,  that  it  is  God's  method 
never  to  leave  me  long  in  a  season  of  such  freedom  from  anxiety 
as  shall  make  me  forget  my  dependence.  You  know  something 
of  what  it  is  to  preach  under  such  burdens,  and  to  go  home 
afraid  to  open  the  door.  At  such  times,  one  thought  pre- 
dominates :  my  sin.  Is  not  this  one  chief  end  of  trials  ?  I 
sometimes  sink,  but,  I  think,  I  do  not  rebel.  God  is  just,  and  he 
is  good.  We,  who  teach  others,  need  a  peculiar  discij^line.  I 
am  thankful  that  my  domestic  trials,  on  the  review,  seem  all 
right.  Yet  I  confess  to  you,  my  anxieties  are  almost  always 
inordinate ;  nor  do  I  grow  any  wiser.  It  is,  no  doubt,  wisely 
ordered,  that  we  suffer  in  those  we  love.  I  did  not  intend  a 
sermon ;  but  I  have  thought  more  of  your  trials,  amidst  my  own. 
Is  there  not  a  lesson  in  this  also  1  When  we  pray  for  a  more 
useful  ministry,  God  answers  us  by  stripes  which  we  did  not 
expect ;  but  they  fall  from  a  gracious  hand.  I  have  to  preach 
before  Presbytery,  and  to  lecture  on  Tuesday.  The  "  Great 
Britain"  is  anxiously  looked  for.  People  seem  to  have  mis- 
givings about  these  steamers  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  nothing 
saved  the  "  Great  Western,"  under  God,  but  its  engine,  which 


1844—1849.  59 

never  stopped,  or  went  awry.  Some  time  since,  being  in  a 
pulpit  with  Mr.  Johnstone,  of  Jersey  City,  I  observed  him  read 
from  a  paper,  half  this  sheet  in  size.  The  fourth  page  was  but 
a  quarter  covered.  He  declared  to  me  that  he  had  read  every 
word,  and  he  spoke  forty  minutes.  It  was  a  stenography,  which 
he  has  used  forty  years  ;  his  father  a  still  longer  time.  This 
would  save  paper,  ink,  pens,  chest,  and  time. 

October  14. — Thus  tar  I  had  previously  written.  Our  Pres- 
bytery is  meeting.  I  gladly  abdicate  in  favour  of  W.  E.  Schenck. 
The  "  Great  Britain  "  is  not  reported  yet.  An  eastern  storm  is 
beginning.  Dr.  Beecher  is  on  the  arena;  giving  the  echoes  of 
the  Alliance.  The  Monterey  affair  gives  me  little  but  pain.  O 
the  lightness  with  which  hundreds  of  men  are  sent  into  eternity  ! 
There  is  a  peculiar  use  of  the  word  Peace,  in  the  Bible,  which 
gives  it  great  emphasis. 

New  York,  November  23,  1846. 
Yours  of  the  2d  lies  unanswered.  The  period  has  been  one 
of  much  pastoral  anxiety.  Inter  alia,  one  of  my  hearers  has 
been  lying  ill,  with  a  rapid  consumption,  at  Brunswick.  I  never 
before  wrote  a  letter  to  a  dying  man.  I  suppose  he  is  dead. 
Mr.  Nathaniel  B.  Boyd,  a  bachelor,  member  of  our  church,  was 
at  our  lecture  on  Tuesday,  and  went  home  well,  and  spoke  with 
interest  of  the  exposition.  In  the  night  he  was  smitten  with 
apoplexy  ;  and  died  on  the  21st.  I  have  had  for  months  a 
case  of  mental  anguish  beyond  all  I  ever  saw  described,  unless 
it  be  Bunyan's  man  in  the  cage,  or  Cowper's  latter  days.  Our 
Philadelphia  friends  fear  our  endeavours  towards  a  City-Mis- 
sion ;  but  we  cannot  live  without  it.  Our  collection  yesterday 
for  Domestic  Missions  (the  general  cause)  was  $512.30.  I  am 
not  convinced  that  any  Episcopal  element  would  help  our  church. 
I  am  least  of  all  convinced  by  the  progress  of  Episcopalians. 
What  have  they  done,  except  in  towns  1  They  had  the  whole 
South  once,  and  where  is  it  now  1  I  am  not  convinced  by  the 
Methodists,  for  the  Baptists  have  increased  as  much  as  they. 
And  their  episcopate  is  but  nominal.  It  is  their  itinerancy  and 
lay-labour,  which  has  pushed  them  on.  Two  of  the  most  learned 
German  Jews  (from  Rotterdam)  are  studying  Addison's  Isaiah. 

New  York,  November  30,  1846. 
I  have  just  returned  from  Dr.  [Wm.  J.]  Armstrong's  funeral, 
and  write  sooner  than  I  meant  to  do,  in  remembrance  of  his  con- 
nexion with  your  church,  and  to  give  you  some  accounts  ''  in 
advance  of  the  mail."  Dr.  A.  was  accustomed  to  go  to  Boston,  the 
last  week  of  every  month,  to  confer  with  the  Prudential  Committee. 


60      WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DUAKE    ST.   CHUECH,  NEW  YORK. 

He  had  accomplished  his  business,  and  \Yas  on  his  return  in  the 
steamboat  Athintic.  It  seems  the  storm  had  begun  before  he  left 
Boston  ;  and  his  friends  urged  him  not  to  leave  them  ;  but  he  ear- 
nestly desired  to  be  with  his  little  family  on  Thanksgiving  Day. 
You  know  the  general  course  of  the  events.  When,  on  Thurs- 
day, it  appeared  that  the  danger  was  imminent,  and  that  no 
vessel  could  near  them,  Dr.  A.  got  permission  of  the  captain  to 
have  religious  services.  He  gathered  all  the  passengers  below, 
read  the  Scripture,  prayed,  called  on  two  other  gentlemen  to 
pray  ;  and  invited  all  present  to  spend  a  few  moments  in  silent 
devotion,  which  they  did.  From  various  accounts,  it  appears 
that  he  was  much  engaged  in  comforting  and  corroborating  the 
minds  of  those  around  him.  While  he  was  praying,  a  lieutenant 
in  the  United  States  Navy  thought  he  recognized  the  voice,  and 
on  going  to  him,  remembered  him  as  the  pastor  of  his  infancy  in 
Richmond.  This  gentleman's  mother  was  also  on  board,  but 
has  perished.  Her  son  was  in  church  to-day.  Dr.  A.  put  on 
the  life-preserver  with  which  his  poor  wife  had  supplied  him, 
and  with  others,  at  the  instance  of  Lieut.  M.,  tore  slips  of  blanket 
and  bound  about  the  head.  What  a  sight  it  must  have  been  ! 
They  already  expected  to  go  to  pieces  at  sunset ;  but  they  did 
not  till  4  A.  M.  All  night  in  the  howling  storm,  the  fires  all 
out,  the  cold  insufferable,  a  few  biscuits,  but  no  drink,  and  the 
bell  tolling  all  the  while.  The  last  time  Dr.  A.  is  reported  to 
have  been  seen,  he  was  standing  above,  surveying  the  scene, 
perfectly  calm  ;  he  then  uttered  these  words  (I  think)  to  a  hearer 
of  mine  :  "  I  entertain  hope  that  we  may  reach  the  shore  ;  but 
if  not,  my  confidence  is  firm  in  that  God  Avho  doeth  all  things 
well,  in  wisdom  and  in  love  !  "  Surely  no  man  in  the  serenity 
of  a  dying  chamber  could  be  better  employed.  Young  C.  S. 
Stewart  (United  States  Engineer)  who  was  saved,  stayed  by  the 
vessel  till  the  timbers  parted,  in  company  with  Capt.  Cullum 
and  Lieut.  Norton.  At  length,  his  hair  and  eyelashes  being 
frozen,  his  hands  were  so  benumbed,  that  he  thought  they  would 
become  useless,  unless  he  let  himself  down  at  once,  which  he 
did.  After  struggling  in  the  surf,  he  gained  footing.  Shortly 
after  he  heard  Capt.  Cullum's  voice.  Norton  was  lost.  Charles  S. 
was  much  bruised,  and  so  exhausted  as  to  fall  down  three  times 
before  reaching  the  house ;  of  which  they  had  previously  en- 
deavoured, by  day-light,  to  fix  the  locality  in  their  minds.  iVfter 
ten  hours  he  reached  New  London,  whence  he  had  set  out ;  he 
is  there  engaged  on  the  new  fortification.  Dr.  Armstrong  was 
struck  on  the  head  a  violent  blow  by  the  falling  timber,  which 
probably  killed  him  instantly.  His  body  was  taken  to  Norwich, 
but  was  not  recognized  for  some  time,  as  the  pockets  had  been 


1844—1849.  61 

cut  and  rifled  of  every  thing.  The  funeral  services  were  attended, 
at  1 1  this  morning,  in  the  Broome  St.  church,  which  was  crowded, 
in  every  standing-place  ;  hundreds  could  not  gain  entrance.  The 
hymn,  '•  Unvail  thy  bosom  faithful  tomb,"  was  sung.  Dr. 
Adams  delivered  a  simple,  touching,  and  admirable  address  ;  in 
which  he  did  justice  to  the  excellent  character  of  the  deceased, 
and  applied  to  him  with  much  force  those  words,  as  eminently 
characterizing  him,  "  In  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  not  with 
fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  have  had  our  con- 
versation in  the  world,"  2  Cor.  i.  12.  The  choir  sang,  "  Hear 
what  the  voice  from  heaven  proclaims."  The  pulpit  was  occupied 
by  Drs.  Skinner,  Adams,  De  Witt,  and  Cox.  Dr.  De  Witt 
offered  a  prayer  of  great  earnestness  and  impression.  The 
clergy  of  our  city  were  very  generally  there,  and  deep  emotion 
was  manifested. 

Dr.  Armstrong  has  left  a  wife  and  Ave  children,  one  a  young 
infant.  The  remains  are  gone,  to  be  laid  by  those  of  his  vener- 
able father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Amzi  Armstrong,  of  New  Jersey. 

You  will  find  that  our  departed  brother  is  remembered  with 
respect  in  Trenton.  He  was  an  upright,  believing  man,  and  a 
solemn,  and  often  pathetic  preacher.  Those  who  have  often  been 
warned  and  entreated  by  him  should  remember  the  voice  of 
God  by  him. 

New  York,  December  31,  1846. 
Monday,  which  is  always  a  day  of  many  interruptions,  has 
this  day  been  busier  than  usual.  One  Mission-committee,  one 
Seamen's-committee,  one  Church-extension-committee,  and  one 
prayer-meeting  of  ministers.  The  last  I  could  not  attend. 
Letters  from  "China  tell  us  that  the  anxiety,  in  consequence  of 
the  riots,  is  very  great.  I  saw  in  my  church  yesterday  a  Dane, 
a  Swede,  and  a  Chinese.  We  have  recently  gained  a  Jew,  who 
is  a  candidate  for  baptism.  Count  Zinzendorf,  on  one  occasion, 
(as  I  find  by  his  Life,)  extemporized  six  hymns,  during  one  meet- 
ing ;  it  was  his  frequent  practice.  Most  of  the  Moravian  hymns 
are  by  him,  and  these  are  very  beautiful  in  German,  however 
ludicrous  in  the  wretched  English  version.  The  fine  gold  has 
become  dim.  If  ever  there  was  true  religion,  since  primitive 
days,  it  was  among  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  confessors. 
Two  of  my  young  men  have  interrupted  me,  and  taken  up  two 
hours.  Yet  I  am  not  sorry.  What  little  strength  I  have  here, 
lies  in  this.  How  humiliating  it  is  to  find  that  I  am  pained, 
when  I  learn  that  ]\I  or  N  does  not  like  my  preaching,  yet  am 
so  calm,  when  all  the  alphabet,  for  years,  reject  my  Master's 
message !     Our  theorv  of  a  church-session   is   grand ;    but  0 


62      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUi:NE   ST.  CHUECH,   NEW  YOEK. 

what  a  practice !  It  is  made  for  a  church  in  a  hiorh  spiritual 
state,  and  this  I  think  is  in  its  flivoiir.  One  of  my  elders  makes 
up  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  who  frequent  the  church. 
He  visits  as  much  as  I  do  ;  knows  every  church-member ;  talks 
to  every  inquirer  ;  goes  often  to  every  house  ;  and,  when  I  point 
out  any  place,  is  sure  to  he  there  within  twenty-four  hours. 
This  leads  me  to  two  practical  reflections  :  1.  How  important 
to  have  a  number  of  young  men  in  training  for  such  offices. 
2.  How  desirable  for  a  pastor  so  to  labour,  as  to  leave  the 
church  in  the  best  possible  state  for  his  successor;  in  regard 
particularly  to  the  children,  youth,  family-habits,  &c.  My  latest 
texts  have  been  such  as  have  much  interested  me  :  2  Tim.  i.  19, 
John  xiii.  36,  Eph.  v.  2,  Matt.  vi.  ult.,  Deut.  xxxiii.  1, 
Ps.  cxix.  9,  Rom.  viii.  34,  Matt.  xxv.  10,  Luke  xii.  57, 
John  xvi.  12,  13,  Matt.  v.  6,  Heb.  ii.  4,  Rom.  viii.  1.  What 
we  seem  to  want  here,  is  not  polish  or  literature  in  sermons, 
but  something  earnest,  real,  and  affectionate ;  something  to  make 
the  people  hear  as  if  some  truth  of  transcendent  present  inter- 
est ^Yils  set  forth.  Never  was  I  more  convinced  that  in  order  to 
this  there  is  nothing  so  necessary  as  a  direct  and  specific  influence 
from  on  High.  Rhetorical  interest  is  impotent.  There  was  great 
interest  under  the  Finneyitish  revivals,  but  it  was  not  evangelical, 
and  I  am  working  among  its  bitter  fruits  every  day.  There  is  a 
wonderful  vitality  and  permanency  in  experience  wdiich  is  built 
on  the  preaching  of  Christ.  The  style  of  sermons  in  the  Scottish 
Free  Church  seems  to  be  the  thing.  When  the  new-divinity- 
converts  grow  cold,  they  are  colder  than  ice,  nothing  but  a  biting 
censoriousness.  I  had  no  idea,  even  in  Jersey,  of  the  modifica- 
tions wrought  in  the  religion  of  this  city,  by  the  overwrought 
revivalism  of  past  years.  Some,  even  of  those  who  were  once 
fiery,  have  degenerated  into  pulpit-metaphysicians,  subtile  and 
elegant.  Vanity-Fair  is  beginning.  New  Year's  day  is  a  very 
carnival  hereabouts.  1  am  in  despair  about  church-music.  The 
nearest  approach  to  my  ideal  is  in  the  German  church  near  me, 
where  every  creature  sings,  where  the  tunes  are  all  slow,  making 
up  in  volume  for  the  lack  of  twiddle-diddle,  and  where  they 
never  have  a  new  tune,  hi  some  churches  here,  the  choir  is  about 
a  pew-full,  and  the  people  use  a  purely  vicarious  psalmody.  I 
sometimes  feel  a  tune,  in  our  lecture-room  ;  in  our  church,  never. 
Do  we  employ  psalms  and  hymns  sufficiently,  as  a  means  of 
grace,  in  our  families  ?  A  poor  Irishman  has  found,  I  trust,  the 
true  foundation,  in  his  sick-room.  Last  night  he  sat  up,  with 
his  popish  host,  till  they  had  read  over  twelve  or  fourteen 
chapters  of  the  Bible.  He  has  been  fliithfully  followed  up  by 
a  most  assiduous  young  man  of  ours.     This  young  man  spends 


1844—1849.  Q^ 

part  of  every  clay  among  the  poor.  I  fear  our  Whig  Congress- 
men are  going  to  use  no  general  exertion  for  peace.  I  honour 
Calhoun  for  his  manful  resistance  to  both  the  war-measures.  I 
am  astonished  at  the  greatness  of  the  evangelical  movement 
among  the  Papists  of  France,  as  detailed  in  the  late  French 
reports ;  whole  villages  reformed,  assemblies  of  several  thou- 
sands, &c.  I  wish  you,  beforehand,  a  happy  New  Year.  Let  us 
seek  to  have  one  of  simpler  walk,  and  higher  usefulness. 

i  New  York,  January  9,  184'7. 

I  compliment  you  on  the  termination  of  your  church-debt ; 
we  are  making  an  effort  towards  ending  our  own  "  pious  fraud." 
I  hope  both  parsons  may  soon  have  their  respective  parsonages. 
The  immigration  to  this  port  alone,  last  year,  was  115,000  ;  or 
more  than  315  per  diem.  An  effort  is  making  to  get  decent 
Temperance-ism  out  of  the  gutter,  and  on  its  legs  again.  It  has 
been  sadly  drugged  hereabouts,  and  is  in  a  state  of  titubation. 
Falstaff's  regiment  could  not  have  exceeded  our  recruits  for 
Mexico.  My  congregation  is  a  receiving-ship  for  up-town.  I 
am  just  setting  up  a  converted  popish  book-pedler,  with  a  basket 
of  books  for  the  wharfs,  sloops,  and  grog-shops.  I  saw  to-day 
a  Californian  paper,  (Colton's,)  Spanish  and  English.  My  text 
for  the  year  was,  "  We  are  the  Lord's."  I  have  since  seen  it  in 
a  "  copy  of  verses  "  j^^^es  me,  and  engraved  on  a  (phylactery) 
gold-ring.  As  I  used  to  remark  in  Trenton  an  endemic  pronun- 
ciation, in  the  female  choristers,  of  "  m^de"  for  "  made,"  "  tyke" 

1  2    1^ 

for  "  take,"  &;c. ;  so  here  I  find  in  the  same  class,  "  fa-er  "  for 

2     1 

"  fire,"  "  ta-em  "  for  "  time."  I  perceive  little  or  nothing  like  con- 
gregational devotion  in  psalmody,  oflen  scarcely  attention.  I 
have  a  trifling  book  in  hands  of  Sunday  School  Union,  which  I 
have  written  out  of  pity  for  town-boys.^ 

New  York,  January  25,  1847. 
1  had  to-day  the  offer  of  a  ticket  to  the  grand  concert,  13th  prox., 
for  the  Popish  orphans.  It  is  to  surpass  all  ever  heard  "  on  this 
side,"  Except  the  operatic  corps,  amateurs  are  to  do  the  thing. 
The  "  lady  patronesses"  are  all  Protestants.  The  Presbyterians 
make  so  much  of  a  call  from  a  congregation,  and  in  theory  are  so 
much  opposed  to  ordination  sine  titulo,  that  I  lately  made  a 
search  of  the  whole  New  Testament  in  quest  of  authority.  I  find 
none.    I  find  no  minister  undeniably  marked  out  as  the  pastor  of 

^  "  Frank  Harper  ;  or,  the  Country  Boy  in  Town." 


64:      WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUA]^E    ST.   CHUKCH,   NEW  YOEK. 


any  single  flock.  I  have  copious  notes  of  the  i-esults.  Mondays 
are  much  alike  with  me  ;  first  our  Foreign  Committee,  which  I 
always  meet  with  pleasure,  and  then  a  round  of  visits  till  three. 
Yesterday  our  Bible  collection  was  made;  $374.  We  add  about 
8180  by  female  association.  One  young  lady  in  my  flock  does  a 
work  which  is  very  unusual  and  pleasing.  She  devotes  about 
three  hours  a  day  to  teaching  poor  girls.  Almost  every  one  of 
those  who  have  left  her  class,  perhaps  twelve,  is  well  educated, 
and  truly  pious.  I  can  almost  pick  out  her  pupils  in  the  gallery 
by  their  looks.  She  also  teaches  in  Sunday  School ;  is  a  leading 
Dorcas,  and  collects  annually  $250  for  a  French  evangelist. 
What  a  chano-e,  if  each  of  us  had  even  six  such  :  and  does  not 
this  suggest  the  importance  of  separate  and  deliberate  efforts  to 
train  individual  helpers'?  I  am  unspeakably  blessed  in  several  of 
my  young  men.  A,  a  schoolmaster,  superintendent  of  Sunday 
School,  is  a  model  of  modest,  able,  indefatigable  service.  B,  a  dry- 
goods  man,  Sunday  School  teacher,  is  the  most  of  a  Harlan  Page  I 
ever  saw  ;  shrewd,  original,  humorous,  always  among  the  poor, 
courageous,  and  prudent.  I  could  hardly  wish  him  other  than  he  is. 
C,  teller  in  bank,  Sunday  School  teacher,  well-read,  gentle,  ortho- 
dox, punctual,  liberal,  looked  up  to  by  the  others.  D,  more  re- 
served, but  valuable,  and  always  in  his  place,  a  ship-chandler.  E, 
lawyer,  accomplished,  active,  a  good  collector,  and  real  aid.  F,  a 
bookseller,  graduate  of  Princeton,  ditto,  ditto.  All,  except  the 
last,  are  New  Englanders  ;  all  are  unfailing  at  prayer  meetings,  &c. 
Their  influence  on  young  men  coming  in  among  us  is  great. 
Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  all  these,  than  their  readiness  to 
do  any  thing  I  propose.  It  is  my  chief  comfort.  I  sensibly  feel 
what  you  say  about  reports  of  sermons.  Some  months  ago  I  was 
shocked  at  the  inane  stupidity  of  a  report  of  one  of  mine.  A 
few  days  after,  a  poor  mantuamaker,  not  of  my  parish,  read  it  in 
the  newspaper^  and  found  something  in  it  the  means  of  bringing 
her  to  Christ,  after  two  years  bondage.  I  wonder  whether  our 
meanest  sermons  are  not  our  best.  Loughridge's  ^  death  made 
me  say  to  myself :  "How  seldom,  now-a-days,  does  a  minister 
die  among  his  own  people  !  From  this  time  our  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  will  have  the  annual  distribution  of  some  of  the 
government  money,  for  Indian  Schools.  Our  Choctaw  Academy 
is  quite  a  college ;  Ramsey  is  a  noble  fellow. 

New  York,  January  26,  1847. 
I  follow  one  letter  with  another  thus  soon,  because  I  omitted 
what  I  meant  to  say  in  my  last  on  a  point  of  interest.    Some  time 
ago  you  mentioned,  in  passing,  a  desire  to  have  an  occasional 

^  Pastor  of  the  Fourth  Church,  Philadelphia. 


18M— 1849.  65 

German  discourse  in  Trenton.  There  is  a  man  here  well  fitted 
for  such  a  work,  to  whom  a  few  dollars  would  be  a  great  help  ; 
if  some  of  your  people  would  bestow  it.  For  a  trifle  more  than 
expenses,  I  think,  he  would  go  on,  once  a  month,  or  perhaps  a 
fortnight.  He  has  been  taken  under  our  Presbytery,  though 
Lutheran  by  ordination.  A  Jew,  but  very  long  under  the  best 
Christian  and  University  training.  A  learned  man.  As  far  as 
can  be  judged,  warmly  pious.  He  has  preached  repeatedly  in 
the  German  pulpits  here,  and  is  said  to  be  highly  acceptable.  He 
preaches  every  Sunday  in  the  Almshouse,  gratuitously,  to  the 
seven  hundred  Germans  who  are  there.  I  know  not  what  could 
be  done  in  Trenton,  in  this  regard  ;  but  if  any  thing  is  needed, 
you  could  scarcely  alight  on  a  better  person  for  an  occasional 
sermon  and  an  experiment.  I  hope  before  long  to  get  him  some 
permanent  preaching-post  here ;  but  things  do  not  mature  as 
fast  as  I  could  wish.  He  speaks  poor  English,  but  can  talk 
French  and  Latin. 

New  York,  February  22,  1847. 
The  snow  has  set  in  (like  some  preachers)  with  a  codicil, 
after  the  conclusion.  Broadway  is  beginning  to  ring  and  swarm. 
I  can't  help  thinking  how  much  better  off  the  Southern  slaves  are, 
physically  and  morally,  than  the  Irish.  Who  ever  heard  of 
slaves  starving  until  the  master  starv^ed  1  I  see  no  trace  of  the 
modern  dogmas  about  absolute  freedom  in  the  Bible.  The 
wretchedest  portion,  by  far,  of  the  black  race,  is  the  free  portion. 
Our  New  York  negroes  are  lower  than  savages  in  many  respects. 
I  believe  slaverv  will  be  abolished ;  and  will  be  abolished  in 
Mexican  lands,  and  parts  adjacent,  where  the  climate  suits,  and 
where  the  taint  of  colour  is  less  felt ;  and  that  all  attempts  to 
wall  slavery  within  its  present  bounds,  only  hurts  the  negro  and 
procrastinates  the  grand  result.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced 
that  our  endeavours  to  do  at  a  blow,  what  Providence  does  by 
degrees,  is  disastrous  to  those  whom  we  would  benefit.  To  give 
the  gospel  to  the  slaves,  is  a  duty  pressing  above  all  others ;  and 
my  painful  and  mortifying  endeavours  for  two  years  to  build  up 
a  black  church  here,  and  my  previous  preaching  for  six  years  to 
free  people  in  Jersey,  convince  me  that  it  is  easier  to  give  the 
gospel  to  the  slaves.  I  am  looking  for  a  house.  That  in  which 
I  live  has  been  a  perpetual  mortification  to  me  :  no  spare  room 
to  which  I  may  ask  a  friend  without  chagrin.  I  am  forced  to  live 
down  town ;  and  here  there  are  no  new  houses.  I  have  inspect- 
ed many  houses.  Scarcely  five  have  had  Croton  water,  and  only 
one  a  bath-room.  I  was  pleased  with  one  in  Barclay  street,  two 
stories  and  a  half:  the  rent  was  |950.     I  heard  Gough  the  other 


66      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUAI^E    ST.  CHrECH,   NEW  TOEK. 

night.  I  never  willingly  miss  him.  His  pathos  and  his  humour 
and  acting  are  beyond  any  thing  I  know  of  just  now.  What  a 
nasty  mean  little  squabbling  your  Trenton  papers  keep  up.  I 
have  taken  the  Ne^vark  Daily  for  ten  years,  and  have  never  seen 
a  line  which  would  apprise  me  of  the  existence  of  the  rival  print. 
In  regard  to  correspondents,  you  are  the  only  regular  one  I  bave 
in  the  world.  Did  you  ever  meet  with  an  expression  of  Jane 
Taylor's,  "  Preserve  me  from  affrontable  people  "  ? 

New  York,  3Iarch  5,  184Y. 
I  am  a  little  disturbed  about  our  epistolary  debits  and  credits, 
— so  here  goes.  The  military  funeral  to-day  of  sundry  officers 
slain  in  Mexico,  is  holden  to  have  been  a  fiilure.  The  mud  and 
mire  was  such,  that  the  "municipalities"  would  not  "walk." 
The  canaille  were  out  in  force,  by  tens  of  thousands.  I  felt  it  to 
be  a  bathetic  affair,  and  no  honour  to  the  poor  victims.  Our 
church-collection,  chiefly  for  Scotland,  is  a  little  short  of  $700  : 
individual  subscriptions  among  our  people,  in  addition,  about 
$1,000.  Mr.  G.  last  night,  gave  some  of  his  views,  as  a  law 
yer,  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  Take  the  following  mems  : 
"  Every  regeneration  is  a  miracle — answers  all  the  definitions. 
Most  Christians,  at  some  time  or  other,  are  sure  they  have  been 
subjects  of  it.  Suppose  the  affidavits  of  these,  taken  on  dying- 
beds,  were  collected,  (say  300,000,000,)  how  far  ought  this  to 
go,  with  an  honest  sceptic,  as  testimony  ?  "  "  Hume,  &c.,  say  a 
miracle  cannot  be  made  credible.  But  if  so  extraordinary  a 
thing  as  a  revelation  could  be  proved,  it  might  be  credible  that 
for  this  even  a  miracle  might  be  wrought.  I  would,  therefore, 
seek  to  prove  a  revelation  on  separate  grounds.  Thus :  the 
human  race  is  not  eternal.  They  Avere  created.  They  could  not 
have  continued  in  existence  without  some  Divine  instruction. 
This  is  a  revelation.''''  Dr.  Boardman  has  spent  a  week  here. 
He  sails  for  Europe  proximo.  Greeley  said,  in  a  speech,  that 
this  city  has  already  made  twenty-five  millions  by  the  scarcity 

in  Europe.     How  our  good  brother removes  the  claws  and 

horns  from  autocrats  !  Having  done  that  office  for  Nicholas,  and 
shown  that  he  never  wronged  the  Poles,  he  has  now  presented 
the  Grand  Turk  in  the  same  amiable  guise.  Would  that  he  had 
seen  the  Pope  !  I  have  finished  my  exposition  of  the  Hebrews ; 
in  sixty-two  lectures  :  I  trust  to  my  own  instruction  at  least. 

L ,  who   has   just   uttered   a  volume   on   the  Apocalypse, 

(moderately  millenarian,)  is  a  retired  merchant ;  the  same  who 
some  years  ago  mauled  the  New  Havenites  so  unmercifully,  in 
his  periodical  pamphlets,  entitled  "  Views  in  Theology."  He  is 
very  acute,  cool,  perspicuous,  consistent,  and  erudite ;  and  I  sup- 


1844—1849.  67 

pose  has  guessed  about  as  near  as  the  rest.  Our  streets  are  at 
the  acme  of  filth  and  putrescence.  The  new  planet,  I  hear,  is  to 
be  called  Neptune,  and  its  sign  f  .  Dr.  Cox  is  lecturing  on  it. 
The  next  should  be  Vulcan  ;  for  steam,  ocean,  and  iron,  are  in  the 
astrological  ascendant.  My  congregation  sends  a  captain  and  a 
lieutenant  in  the  new  regiment  of  regulars. 

New  York,  April  5,  1847. 

Your  kind  letter  of  the  2d  was  received  on  the  4th,  and  you 
will  accept  my  thanks.  Our  little  one  was  a  very  lovely  object 
in  our  eyes  ;  and  our  remembrance  of  him  is  peculiarly  free  from 
all  that  could  give  pain.  He  faded  away  exactly  like  a  slowly- 
dying  flower.  Partly  to  avoid  funeral  mockeries,  and  partly  to 
have  the  three  little  graves  together,  for  the  moral  influence  on 
my  other  children,  I  removed  the  remains  to  Princeton,  to  "  the 
plot  of  ground"  wdiere  I  shall  probably  lie  myself. 

I  have  this  morning  been  furnishing  New  Testaments  (they 
cannot  carry  large-print  Bibles)  to  a  company  of  the  10th  regi- 
ment. I  have  been  stimulated  by  the  w^ar  to  prepare  a  manual 
of  devotions  for  sailors  and  soldiers,  which  is  now  complete.^ 
Bunsen  is  getting  out  the  most  magnificent  work  on  Rome,  pic- 
torial and  antiquarian,  which  has  ever  been  made.  The  Ameri- 
can Messenger  (of  American  Tract  Society)  is  expected  this  year 
to  rise  to  a  circulation  of  100,000.  One  should  write  for  such  a 
paper,  however  slim  it  is,  and  to  make  it  less  so.  I  dreamed 
that  I  heard  Dr.  Yeomans  say  these  words,  on  hearing  a  Presby- 
terial  lecture,  or  the  like :  "  Yes,  it  is  only  nonsense :  but  nothing 
is  more  damning  than  nonsense ;  especially  when  it  purjoorts  to 
be  the  Word  of  God,  in  exposition."  1  have  recovered  my 
father's  trial  sermon,  preached  fifty-six  years  ago,  cet.  19. 
He  was  very  boyish,  and  the  text  was  Jer.  i.  7.  The  style  is 
exactly  that  of  his  present  writing. 

118  Chambers  street,  Mai/  8,  1847. 
I  am  writing  on  a  most  shoemaking  sort  of  paper,  which 
please  ascribe  to  my  study-less  condition  ;  my  work-place  being 
the  back-parlour.  Coming  into  a  house  which  has  been  "  im- 
proved" by  a  defaulting  boarding-house  keeper,  we  find  horrid 
filth,  damage,  and  dilapidation,  and  are  amidst  a  gang  of  glaziers, 
whitewashers,  plumbers,  and  joiners.  I  have  gone  up  one  story, 
leaving  the  first-floor-back  (Angliee)  for  distinguished  clergymen. 
Your  patronage  is  solicited.     The  military  display  to-day  was 

^  Published  by  the  Board  of  Publication  in  1847.  In  the  same  year,  his 
"  Thoughts  on  Family  Worship  "  was  published  by  that  Board.  The  latter 
work  was  republished  in  Edinburgh  in  1853. 


68      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUA^'E   ST.  CHTKCH,   NEW   TOEK. 

very  grand  :  once  it  would  have  pleased  me :  it  did  not :  and 
the  illumination,  which  is  about  to  begin  in  a  few  moments,  I  do 
not  expect  to  see/  I  feel  like  preaching  on  "  Charity  .  .  .  .  re- 
joiceth  not  in  iniquity — vaunteth  not  itself."  Dr.  Burns  of 
Toronto  left  town  this  evening,  after  a  sojourn  of  two  or  three 
davs.  He  eoes  to  Halifax  about  a  new  theological  school  there. 
I  think  he  has  more  exactness  and  extent  of  knowledge,  and  a 
greater  outpouring  of  it  in  vehement  and  often  affectionate  dis- 
course, than  any  man  I  ever  met ;  unless  I  except  Chancellor 
Kent,  whom  he  resembles  in  his  contempt  of  all  conventionalities. 
Our  communion  is  coming  on,  without  one  addition  on  examina- 
tion. This  causes  "  searchings  of  heart."  I  feel  no  disposition 
to  look  at  other  parties'  share  of  the  blame.  From  my  soul  I 
say,  confitentem  habes  reum  !  On  an  examination  of  my  preach- 
ing, I  do  not  see  any  thing  in  doctrine,  topics,  or  application, 
(notwithstanding  grievous  defects  in  zeal  and  faith,)  which  I  con- 
demn myself  in  :  yet  I  am  not  "  hereby  justified."  This  day  of 
festivity  has  found  me  very  sad,  at  times,  in  the  survey  of  every 
sort  of  temper  almost  or  quite  as  bad  as  years  ago.  Tew  things 
startle  me  more  than  this  i:)erman€ncy  of  one's  inward  features  : 
the  same  man,  the  same  nature,  in  a  degree.  If  it  were  not  for 
other,  and  sometimes  countervailing  tendencies,  I  might  well 
doubt  whether  any  new  nature  exists.  If  I  have  any  experience 
it  fullv  afirrees  with  that  exeo;esis  which  ascribes  Romans  vii.  to 
a  believer,  who  "  delights  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inner 
man."  Durbin's  Travels  in  the  East  are  fall  of  good  matter  for  a 
preacher ;  ho  has  a  knack  at  painting  the  scene  to  your  imagination. 
We  cannot  be  too  well  versed  in  the  physique  of  the  Holy  Land. 
Dr.  Jenks's  Explanatory  Atlas  is  the  best  geographical  help 
for  a  pastor  I  have  seen.  Robinson's  book  will  be  a  great  one. 
The  Conference  of  the  American  Branch  of  the  Evangelical  Alli- 
ance have  been  fighting  several  days  about  slavery,  &c.,  and  do 
not  seem  to  know  what  the  aforesaid  Alliance  is  for.  A  man  of 
prudence  may  be  pardoned  for  not  securing  a  berth  until  he 
knows  whither  the  ship  is  bound.  From  the  pugnacity  of  the 
crew,  the  "  sign  "  would  seem  to  be  "  Castor  and  Pollux."  They 
will  probably  succeed  in  creating  a  new  anti-slavery  sect.  One 
speaker  said,  if  they  went  wrong  about  slavery,  a  new  Alliance 
Avould  certainly  be  formed.  Perhaps  it  would  be  as  well  to 
have  enough  new  ones  to  suit  us  all.  ]\Iurray's  Letters  to 
Hughes  are  producing  a  great  sensation  ;  far  beyond  any  thing  I 
can  account  for.  They  are  read  with  avidity  in  kitchens,  and  will 
sell  by  thousands  among  the  Irish.  The  Irish  abolitionists  are 
agitating,  with  tremendous  fury,  because  the  Dublin  Committee 

^  For  the  victories  of  General  Tajlor  in  Mexico. 


18M— 1849.  69 

did  not  "  send  back  the  money"  of  the  slave-holding  States.  So 
great  is  their  compassion  for  Cuftee,  that  Paddy  may  die  of  star- 
vation. Poor  Lichtenstein  lies  very  low,  with  a  fever  which  he 
probably  caught  from  the  infected  air  of  the  almshouse.  His  re- 
ligion shines  in  this  affliction.  Dr.  Burns's  son,  a;t.  20,  is  just 
settled  in  Kingston,  in  one  of  the  chief  posts  in  Canada.  An 
elder  son  is  in  the  ministry  in  Scotland.  Mrs.  Burns  is  a  cousin- 
german  of  Bonar,  who  accompanied  McCheyne  and  wrote  his  life: 
(the  Latins  would  have  avoided  that  ambiguity,  "  et  hiijus  scrip- 
sit  vitam.") 

New  York,  May  13,  1847. 

I  thank  you  for  reminding  me  of  the  date  of  our  correspond- 
ence. I  feel  it  somewhat  tenderly  in  connexion  with  the  kind- 
ness you  intend  for  us,  in  the  naming  of  your  boy.  My  tears 
(I  seldom  shed  tears)  flow  profusely  while  I  think  that  in  a  sort 
he  takes  the  place  of  our  sweet  translated  child.  Forgive  this 
burst  (unusual  in  our  long  correspondence,  and  proving,  perhaps, 
that  I  grow  weaker  as  I  grow  older,)  and  accept  my  prayers  for 
the  little  one's  eternal  good. 

Our  anniversaries  are  as  much  thronged  as  usual,  but  less 
and  less  by  New  Yorkers.  I  also  perceive  that  the  old,  staid 
societies,  e.  g.  Bible  and  Tract,  are  forsaken  by  the  more  fiery 
persons.  At  the  Bible  Society  to-day,  the  prime  thing  was  a 
glorious  speech  from  the  delegate  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  a  Londoner,  Mr.  Cordcroy,  a  youngish,  soldierly- 
looking  layman.  Pine  delivery,  noble  elocution,  and  that  tact 
and  pathos  which  I  have  never  found  in  our  American  cut-and- 
dried  speeches.  Hundreds  of  pocket-handkerchiefs  were  moist- 
ened, and  the  enormous  auditory,  usually  impatient,  would  not 
let  him  stop.  I  will  try  to  send  you  a  report,  but  perhaps  it 
was  all  in  his  manner,  pronunciation,  tone  a,nd  feeling.  I  sat  be- 
tween Vermilye  and  Pres.  Hopkins  (both  cool  men)  and  both 
weeping.  You  will  see  nothing  in  the  words  to  account  for  this. 
Lewis  Green  made  an.  eloquent  speech  yesterday  at  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society.  Fred.  Douglass  is  a  black  Demosthenes. 
For  the  mere  quality  of  strength  I  never  heard  his  superior.  He 
has  a  diabolical  smile,  from  ear  to  ear,  which  contrasts  with  his 
ferocious,  lowering  brow,  in  an  indescribable  manner.  It  was 
Catilinarian  and  treasonable.  He  said,  up  and  down,  that  he 
despised  and  hated  the  country  and  the  Constitution,  and  in- 
voked the  aid  of  England.  The  Millerites,  the  Fourierites,  and 
other  Bedlamites,  have  protracted  agonisms.  The  Evangelical 
Alliance  has  been  sweetly  pugnacious,  like  Gen.  Scott,  bent  on 
"  conquering  a  peace."      Like  the  dear  Baptist  brethren,  they 


70      WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUANE   ST.    CHrECH,  NEW  YOEK. 


open  their  arms  to  all  Christendom,  free-gratis,  full  admission, 
to  the  broad  union-platform ;  only  with  proviso,  that  no  one 
enters  the  door  who  mispronounces  the  Shibboleth.  In  their 
chagrin  at  their  smallness,  they  anathematize  all  %Yho  have  not 
sued  for  entrance.  Is  Christendom  really  more  united  than  be- 
fore, by  such  means  1     I  trow  not. 

If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  duty  of  warring,  I  think  a 
Mexican  might  assert  it.  Who  can  deny  them  the  credit  of 
bravery  1  Military  martinets  here,  as  I  happen  to  know,  are 
now  glorifying  Scott  at  Taylor's  expense  :  they  say  Scott's  way 
of  killing  Mexicans  is  selon  les  regies.  Certainly  it  effuses  less  of 
our  own  blood.  I  loathe  and  fear  this  war.  We  shall  be  readier 
for  another.  Yet  perhaps  Popery  may  lose  its  secular  hold  on 
Mexico. 

Unitersity  of  Yirginia,  3fai/  27,  1S47. 
Having  done  the  job  for  which  I  came  to  Richmond,^  I  proceeded 
to  another  matter  of  very  great  moment,  which  has  brought  me 
here.   The  Assembly  looks  young.    Scarcely  any  gray  heads.   The 
flithers  are  Dr.  Janeway  and  Mr.  Smylie.  Great  array  of  sunburnt, 
broad-brimmed  southern  and  western  Chorepiscopi.    Some  sons  of 
Anak,  noble  specimens  of  manly  beauty  from  the  west.     Thorn- 
well  is  the  great  man  of  the  south,  and  I  do  not  think  his  learn- 
ing or  powers  of  mind  have  been  overrated.     His  speech  on 
taking   the   chair  was  a  chef  d'oeuvre.     His   sermon    (not   the 
popery  one)  was  ill-delivered,  but  natheless  a  model  of  what  is 
rare,  viz.,  burning-hot  argument,  logic  in  ignition,  and  glowing 
more  and  more  to  the  end  ;  it  was  memoriter,  and  with  terrific 
"  contentio  laterum."     The  spring  was  very  late  ;  consequently 
the  sudden  outburst  just  before  we  came  clothed  every  thing  with 
beauty.     The  mountains  are  green  to  the  very  tops.    Albemarle 
is  the  crack  county  of  Virginia ;    and  the  state  of  the  grain- 
market  has  thrown  much  tobacco-land  into  wheat.     I   passed 
numerous  wheat-fields  in  full  ear,  not  one  of  which  was  less  than 
one  hundred  acres.     The  education  of  the  gentry  here  has  led 
to  a  brisk  competition  in  scientific  tillage ;  observable  around 
the  seats  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Rives,  Col.  Randolph,  Gen.  Gordon, 
Dr.  Merriwethor.     The  foreground  is  all  arable  land,  one  sea  of 
grass,  blossoming-clover,  and  wheat,  slowly  rising,  without  any 
visible  fences  or  artificial  demarcations  to  injure  the  landscape, 
and  the  background  a  chain  of  wooded  or  cultivated  heights  (S. 
W.  Mountain)  unequalled  by  any  I  know.    I  have  seen  hills,  and 
I  have  seen  farming  ;  but  I  never  saw  them  so  blended.     After 
going  westward  for  some  miles  to  this  place,  crossing  a  lap  of 

^  He  preached  the  annual  sermon  on  Missions,  before  the  General  As- 
sembly, in  Richmond,  May  25.     The  text  was  Phil.  ii.  11. 


18ii— 18i9.  71 

this  ridge,  and  skirting  the  Eivanna,  which  has  craggy  and  pre- 
cipitous banks,  full  of  rhododendron,  honeysuckle,  &c.,  we  come 
to  the  side  of  Monticello,  and  then  into  this  valley,  over  which 
the  long  chain  of  the  Blue  Ridge  begins  to  tower  in  the  North- 
west. Jefferson  knew  how  to  select  one  of  the  finest  plateaus  in 
the  land  for  this  college.  His  antichristian  plans  have  been 
singularly  thwarted  every  way.  For  example,  here  is  a  chapel, 
(since  I  was  here  last ;)  three  professors  communicants,  besides 
jbr.  McGuffey,  who  is  a  Presbyterian  minister  ;  and  a  proctor 
and  treasurer  who  are  Presbyterian  communicants.  McGuffey 
is  a  West  Pennsylvanian,  and  is  second  to  no  man  in  Virginia 
for  fame  as  a  lecturer  and  public  speaker.  He  does  not  preach 
here,  but  often  in  other  places.  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if,  be- 
fore ten  years,  this  rich  and  central  institution  should  have  on 
its  very  grounds  a  Presbyterian  theological  school ;  as  the  law 
founding  the  University  gives  leave  to  any  Christian  sect  to 
build,  and  to  have  a  theological  professor,  with  freedom  of 
library,  apparatus,  &c.  Scheie,  professor  of  Modern  languages, 
is  a  Prussian,  and  a  pious  Lutheran.  The  chaplain  for  next  year 
is  Gillette,  a  Baptist  of  Philadelphia,  [now  of  New  York.]  1 
have  met  with  all  the  Professors  here ;  they  are  remarkable  for 
their  courtesy  to  strangers.  Dr.  Cabell  is  just  closing  his  year 
of  presidentship,  with  some  eclat.  I  see  he  is  nominated  in  the 
Richmond  Enquirer  to  succeed  Dr.  "Warner  in  the  Surgical  Chair. 
Emery  tells  me  their  edifice  (Medical  College  of  Hampden  Syd- 
ney) is  the  finest  in  the  city.  I  think  I  observe  more  prevalence 
of  religious  warmth  here  than  with  us.  I  lodged  with  Mr. 
Beadle  of  New  Orleans,  four  years  Missionary  in  Syria ;  he  is 
fluent  in  Arabic.  To-morrow,  Deo  volente,  I  go  to  Gordonsville, 
to  visit  the  house  of  my  birth,  which  I  have  not  been  in  for 
forty-two  years :  this  will  consume  one  day.  I  hope  to  reach 
home  by  Thursday  or  Friday  night.  The  Charleston  and  Co- 
lumbia folks  have  a  refinement  of  manners  which  has  always 
struck  me.  They  do  not  depend  on  Northern  cities,  but  get 
their  books  and  foshions  direct  from  London  and  Paris.  It  is 
something  new  under  the  sun,  for  Virginia  daily-prints  to  report 
doings  of  a  General  Assembly.  There  is  j)reaching  every  morn- 
ing, and  service  every  evening.  Dr.  Empie,  formerly  President 
of  William  and  Mary,  (Episcopal,)  opens  his  church,  St.  James's, 
all  Sunday  and  thrice  during  the  week,  for  the  Presbyterians. 
So  do  all  the  Baptists  and  Methodists.  Fleming  James  gave  a 
great  soiree  in  his  palatial  house,  to  sundry  of  our  brethren  ; 
among  whom  I  was  present.  We  are  revelling  on  strawberries, 
with  floods  of  bona-fide  cream  ;  and  ice-cream  is  what  its  name 
imports. 


Y2      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUAXE   ST.    CHURCH,   NEW  YORK. 

New  York,  June  15,  1847. 

I  have  been  waiting  for  time  to  fill  a  sheet,  but  cannot  any 
longer  hope  for  it.  Till  my  Princeton  Discourse  ^  it  is  utterly 
out  of  my  power  to  do  any  thing  out  of  New  York  and  Prince- 
ton, great  or  small.  This  must  be  my  reply  to  your  invitation, 
which  I  fnlly  estimate,  to  baptize  your  child.  There  is,  how- 
ever, another  thing  :  though  not  often  moved,  I  am  sometimes 
very  weak,  and  I  do  not  think  I  could,  publicly  in  Trenton,  pro- 
nounce the  name  you  have  given  your  boy  ^  without  a  degree  of 
pain,  which  I  am  perfectly  sure  you  would  not  allow  me  to  incur, 
even  for  the  pleasure  which  the  solemn  service,  thus  admin- 
istered, might  afford  your  friendly  minds. 

LoxG  Branch,  July  28,  1847. 

I  ran  away  from  your  caj)ital,  much  disordered,  reached  New 
York  about  two  yesterday ;  visited  Junk.  The  Chinamen  look 
very  much  like  Malays  ;  but  I  saw  one  of  them  writing  Chinese 
characters.  Embarked  at  seven  this  morning ;  cool,  but  fine 
passage ;  but  in  the  outer  bay  a  great  prevalence  of  cascading. 
Found  all  well  here.  At  this  present  1  am  in  my  pigeon-hole  ; 
our  children's  shakedown  on  the  floor ;  voices  of  female  and  male 
singing  on  the  piazza.  A  glorious  full  red  moon  rose  out  of  the 
ocean.  Bathing  is  cold  work.  I  saw  one  of  the  Junk-men  drunk 
with  opium.  Addison  has  engaged  for  another  month  at  Dr. 
Boardman's.  More  than  five  hundred  obits  in  New  York  last 
week  :  more  than  eighteen  hundred  emigrants  in  one  day. 

Love  to  the  young  and  rising  generation,  not  forgetting  my 
godson  Johanniculus,  as  Luther  often  calls  his  young  Hans. 

What  a  useless  pest  capital  letters  are :  the  ancients  had 
none,  or  rather  they  had  none  other ;  nor  were  they  bothered 
with  punctuation.  How  I  envy  them.  xV  capital  plagues  me 
so,  that  I  foresee  it  with  apprehension,  as  one  foresees  a  mudhole 
in  driving.  i  am  your  friend, 

j.  w.  alexander. 

New  York,  September  3,  1847. 
We  got  home  on  the  1st,  and  are  in  the  hubbub  of  fixation, 
and  the  heats  of  our  second  edition  of  summer.  Choir  and  organ 
business,  everywhere,  seems  fruitful  of  ills.  Lowell  Mason  has 
now  come  out  against  choirs,  but,  I  flmcy,  not  against  organs. 
My  idea  of  psalmodic  service  is,  that  it  should  be  :  (1)  univer- 
sal ;  (2)  vocal ;  (3)  slow,  (in  general ;)  (4)  without  complication 

^  At  the  Centenary  of  the  College,  June  29,  1847. 

"^  John  Alexander,  the  name  of  one  of  his  deceased  children. 


184^—1849.  73 

of  parts  ;  (5)  simple  ;  (G)  little  varied ;  i.  e.  a  few  times  >yell 
learnt ;  (7)  with  no  prominence  of  individual  voices,  (duets  or 
solos ;)  (8)  without  fugue ;  (9)  without  frequent  repetition  of 
words  ;  (10)  depending  on  volume  of  many  voices,  rather  than 
brilliant  execution  of  one  or  two.  It  is  plain  as  ABC,  that 
whole  masses  cannot  sing,  unless  the  tunes  be  familiar  to  a  high 
degree.  This  ideal  I  never  expect  to  see  realized.  The  nearest 
approach  is  in  the  large  Lutheran  congregations,  barring  their 
harshness ;  but  better  the  harshness,  than  the  feeble  warble  of 
twenty  per  cent,  in  vacuo.  Much  illness  about ;  chiefly  dysen- 
tery. Every  day  some  case  of  sorrow  in  my  large  flock  at- 
tracts my  feeble  help.  My  topic  for  Sunday  is  "Sorrow  is 
better  than  Laughter." 

This  is  mv  fifth  letter,  at  one  sittinir.  The  Mexicans  seem 
to  me  plainly  below  our  free  blacks  ;  except  a  corps  of  desperate 
military  leaders,  whose  trade  and  hope  have  been  War,  nothing 
but  war  ever  since  they  broke  with  Spain.  Taylor's  election,  I 
judge,  v/ould  be  a  national  vote  for  peace. 

New  York,  Sejyt  20,  1847. 
Elizabeth  Fry's  life  (the  large  one,  vol.  1)  will  make  many 
quakeresses  :  a  lovelier  woman  I  never  read  of  or  heard  of; 
humility,  meekness,  love,  and  sense.  The  "  meek  and  quiet 
spirit "  in  such  a  case,  looks,  as  it  is,  TroXijreAes.  Dictionaries 
and  id  genus  being  my  chief  helps  for  exposition,  I  have  added 
Kitto's  Biblical  Cyclopedia,  and  find  it  the  best  thing  yet,  in  its 
line  :  it  is  rationalistic  and  Andover-like,  in  many  places.  One 
of  the  missionaries  lately  sent  out  by  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  before  his 
going,  being  then  at  New  Haven,  told  a  friend  of  mine,  approv- 
ingly, that  Dr.  Taylor  said  in  his  lectures,  in  regard  to  David's 
expression,  (Psalm  51.)  "  In  sin  did  my  mother,"  &c. ;  that  they 
are  to  be  interpreted  as  exaggerations  like  that  of  the  sailor, 
[who  in  prayer  spoke  of  himself  in  a  phrase  of  vulgar  slang.] 
Three  services  yesterday.  I  addressed  my  young  men  and 
women.  The  city  is  vile  with  common  sewers.  Nathan  Rice's 
book  against  Popery  is  good  :  only  about  two  pages  can  1  except 
to.  Why  do  you  not  have  a  Reading-room  in  Trenton  1  The 
Newarkers  have  laid  the  corner  of  a  grand  Library.  I  was  in- 
vited to  lay  it,  but  pleaded  un-Masonic  dispositions. 


New  York,  Sept.  23,  1847. 
Yesterday  we  had  the  0' Council  obsequies.     It  speaks  well 
for  the  good  nature  of  our  people,  that  so  immense  a  procession 
should  have  marched  for  miles,  with  effigies  of  the  pope,  &c., 

VOL.  II. — 4 


74:      WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DUiJXE   ST.   CHUECH,   NEW  TOEK. 

&;c.,  yet  without  a  word  or  gesture  of  interruption.  Apropos  of 
which,  the  recent  site  of  Niblo's  is  occupied  by  the  "  Great 
Tent "  of  the  JMillerites,  with  a  lofty  flag,  bearing,  "  Thy  King- 
dom come  !  "  Preachments,  concourse,  &c.  Failures  have  oc- 
curred here,  and  more  are  looked  for.  Addison's  popularity  in 
Philadelj^hia  surprises  me  the  more,  as  his  last  summer's  work 
here  seemed  to  draw  scarcely  anybody.  The  sphere,  I  admit,  is 
very  different :  a  people  engaged  solely  in  trade  affords  small  in- 
tellectual ability.  I  think  I  am  not  censorious,  nor  chagrined,  in 
judging  that  religion  in  New  York  runs  very  much  to^Yards  ex- 
ternals. Fine  churches,  pews,  and  music,  fine  sermons,  fine  '  en- 
terprises,' viewed  in  the  same  light  as  stock-company  concerns, 
fine  collections  ;  such  are  the  stimulating  ideas.  "  Moderatism  " 
is  the  terininiis  ad  quern.  So  far  as  my  researches  go,  Presby- 
terianism  has  never  and  nowhere  made  striking  advances,  except 
when  the  body  of  preachers  and  people  has  been  animated  with 
a  zeal  for  truth  and  saving  souls,  such  as  at  the  very  time  has 
been  a  little  too  strong,  methodistical,  pietistical,  enthusiastical, 
in  the  eyes  even  of  many  sound,  good  sort  of  brethren.  When 
Ave  sulistitute  for  this  secular  stimulants,  wealth,  apparatus, 
ritual,  decorum,  letters,  or  oratory,  we  find  that  these  (at  least 
in  the  apprehension  of  the  million)  exist  in  greater  force  among 
the  Episcopalians.  Nor  do  we  mend  the  matter  by  fighting 
these  last,  on  questions  of  difference.  Our  real  aggression  has 
always  been  by  warm  pushing  of  our  evangelical  tenets.  Right 
or  wrong,  this  has  become  more  and  more  my  theory  :  I  would 
I  could  show  some  corresponding  practice:  negatively  I  think 
I  can. 

New  York:,  Ocloher  5,  1847. 
If  these  rumours  of  new  horrors  in  Mexico  are  true,  what  an 
account  will  our  country,  and  we,  as  claiming  to  be  self-govern- 
ors, have  to  render  to  God !  I  am  much  impressed  by  Web- 
ster's speech  at  Springfield,  w  It  is  a  war  of  pretexts.  None  of 
the  alleged  causes  existed.  It  has  gone  from  small  skirmishing 
beginnings  to  the  most  hideous  atrocities.  Never  have  I  so 
much  feared  the  judgments  of  God  on  us  as  a  nation.  Yet  I  am 
not  quite  clear  as  to  the  duty  of  individuals  ;  or  what  means  are 
best  for  stopping  further  carnage.  Who  knows  but  our  judg- 
ment will  be,  that  our  people,  having  tasted  blood,  and  grown 
proud  of  their  undoubted  prowess,  will  become,  as  Rome  be- 
came, a  people  with  war  for  a  trade  %  Military  lust  for  conquest 
is  manifestly  on  the  rise.  All  Mexico  would  not  (on  worldly 
grounds  even)  repay  us  for  the  American  lives  which  have  been 
lost.    A  Chinese  youth,  named  Khur,  was  here  to  see  me  to-day; 


1844— 18i9.  75 

on  his  third  voyage  to  America,  from  Amoy  :  wishes  to  go  to 
school  here.  He  speaks  a  most  f'lmny  mixture  of  English,  Por- 
tuguese, and  Chinese^  an  almost  unintelligible  baby-talk.  But  he 
is  acute  and  bright-faced.  The  IMillerite  tent,  Chinese  Junk,  and 
Fair  of  American  Institute,  are  all  in  full  force.  Powers's  Greek 
Slave  is  only  a  beautiful  piece  of  licentious  nudity.  Mons.  Niel, 
a  reformed  French  popish  priest,  has  appeared.  Old  Mr.  Galla- 
tin still  receives  company,  and  takes  lively  interest  in  philo- 
logical inquiries.  It  is  a  wonderful  fact,  that  the  characters  on 
the  famous  stone,  found  at  Grave  Creek  Mound,  on  the  Ohio, 
(Virginia,)  are  fully  proved  to  be  ancient  Libyan.  It  is  the  very 
first  documentary  link  between  the  red  men  and  the  old  world. 
No  doubt  of  the  above  fact  remains  with  our  knowing  ones.  I 
am  pleased  that  you  like  Simeon :  ^  his  influence  was  owing, 
perhaps,  in  no  small  degree,  to  his  amazing  colloquial  flow, 
chirping  oddity,  and  irrepressible  vivacity  :  hence  his  soirees, 
which  nobody  else  could  reproduce.  As  to  his  dread  of  systems, 
I  do  not  share  in  it ;  unless  said  systems  be  false ;  and  even  then 
I  prefer  methodized  to  immethodized  statements.  His  own  sys- 
tem was  clear  enough,  though  he  chose  not  to  own  it.  In  regard 
to  his  plan  of  preaching  both  sides  of  questions,  on  which  the 
Scriptures  seem  to  speak  both  ways,  no  man  ever  did  it,  except 
on  two  or  three  picked  topics.  Every  man's  common  sense 
teaches  him  that  he  must  aim  at  conciliation  of  apparent  discrep- 
ancies, or  abandon  inspiration.  No  man  ever  preached  e.  g.  that 
the  planet  is  eternal,  though  Scripture  seems  to  say  so.  They 
have  a  noble  copy  of  his  Skeletons,  twenty  odd  volumes,  in  the 
Seminary  Library  at  Princeton,  the  gift  of  AVilberforce.  On 
Sunday  night  I  had  a  soiree  under  our  church,  where  I  chatted 
to  fifty  of  our  young  men.  I  saw  Addison's  big  congregation 
in  pretty  full  review.  The  steamers  to  Bremen  are  quite  an 
epoch :  I  hope  you  saw  traveller  Stephens's  account  of  the  jolli- 
fication at  arrival  in  Bremen.  George  P.  Marsh  (M.  C.)  of  Vt., 
speaks  French  like  a  Frenchman,  and  Swedish  like  a  Swede,  and 
is  thorough  in  Danish,  German,  and  Spanish ;  yet  he  has  never 
been  abroad.  He  is  associated  with  Gallatin,  Robinson,  Turner, 
Gibbs,  Salisbury,  &c.,  in  the  Ethnological  Society.  The  modern 
books  of  note  on  Arithmetic,  such  as  Davies's,  adopt  the  French 
billion,  which  makes  the  whole  series  go  homogeneously  by 
threes,  (000  000  000  000.)  A  six-story  house  in  my  daily  w^alks 
seventy-five  feet  long,  w'hich  had  been  completed  to  cornice,  has 
just  been  taken  down  brick  by  brick  to  the  very  ground  from 
fault  in  the  foundation  :  it  filled  me  with  thoughts  every  day  as 
I  passed. 

^  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Simeon,  of  Cambridge. 


76      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUANE   ST.   CHUECH,   NEW  TOKK. 

Vew  York,  October  2Y,  184Y. 
When  the  demission  business  was  sent  down  to  the  presby- 
teries  some  years  ago,  I  voted  against  it.  Since  then  1  have 
doubted.  The  demission  takes  place  all  over  the  land,  de  facto  : 
the  question  seems  to  be,  how  to  legalize  what  we  already  allow, 
and  avoid  the  evils  of  our  "  anomalous  condition."  But  curia 
villi  avisare.  Before  I  look  for  your  extension-table,  let  me  say  an 
experience  of  one  of  the  crack  (not  cracked)  ones  is  unfavour- 
able. ]\Iadame  says  the  old  way,  of  annexing  a  common  table, 
in  case  of  clerical  invasions,  is  better.  Our  extension-table  is 
too  heavy,  on  the  floor,  as  a  fixture ;  hurts  carpets,  and  is  hurt 
by  hoofs  of  youth,  &;c.  If  one  is  used,  the  one  we  have  qua  ex- 
tensio,  is  admirable.  It  is,  however,  paying  for  a  daily  encum- 
brance, in  view  of  an  occasional  need.  I  went  to  Astoria  yester- 
day, to  see  my  landlady  and  parishioner,  who  is  dying  with  con- 
sumption ;  a  fine  specimen  of  old-fiishioned  Presbyterian  religion ; 
all  the  doctrines  turned  into  experience ;  full  of  calm  hope  and 

wisdom  ;  a  lesson  for  life.     is  homoeopathically  cured  of  a 

fever.  What  cured  was,  however,  by  no  means  accordant  with 
komceojyathic  peculiarities  ;  it  was  cold  shower-bath,  when  the 
fever  was  hottest :  this  looks  like  reason  ;  but  it  is  not  "  similia 

similibus  curantur,"  the  great  maxim  of  Hahnemann.     is 

getting  well  of  a  fever,  on  the  old  plan.  A  bachelor  presents 
me  Hutter's  New  Testament  in  twelve  languages,  (1699.)  I 
am  at  1  Tliess.  ii.  9  in  exposition.  Look  at  the  untranslated 
force  of  €avTr]<:  1  Thess.  ii.  7,  and  at  the  exquisite  tenderness  of 
the  whole  verse.  Jacobus  is  coming  out  with  notes  on  Matthew. 
I  know  not  what  to  say  about  the  flocks  of  candidates  who  fre- 
quent every  even  the  smallest  vacancy.  Strangers  come  to  me 
every  week,  as  if  I  kept  a  "  vacancy  intelligence  office."  Want 
of  missionary  zeal  seems  to  be  the  cause,  not  want  of  room. 
Cheever's  church  [Union  Square]  opens  on  Sabbath  first.    Henry 

Beecher  is   the  Brooklyn  star;  being    the  comet.      Our 

synod  did  nothing  about  the  war.  The  details  of  Chapultepec 
are  equal  to  any  thing  military  I  remember. 


New  York,  November  16,  1847. 
I  owe  you  for  yours  of  the  4th.  How  time  flies  !  I  should 
have  said  it  was  not  a  week  old.  Perhaps  this  is  the  way  the 
market  women  make  such  anachronisms  about  their  eggs.  I 
heartily  rejoice  in  Governor  Haines's  election,  not  only  because 
he  is  my  classmate,  but  because  I  think  he  fears  God.  Good 
Mr.  F.  seemed  to  join  in  my  expression  of  the  same  opinion. 
How  the  last-named  good  man  is  embushel-ed  in  this  our  uni- 


1844—1849.  77 

versity !     Had  he  abode  in  Jersey,  his  light  would  have  been 
like  that  of  Sandy  Hook.     He  tells  me  he  has  been  to  see  old 
Chancellor  Kent,  at  Chatham ;  who  is  sinking.     All  our  young 
men  are  ravening  for  good  places  ;  and  erring  as  to  what  consti- 
tutes a  good  place.     There  is  a  congestion  of  candidates  about 
our  cities,  while  at  the  extremities  and  frontiers,  all  is  chill  and 
suffering.    Unless  we  all  get  awakened,  in  some  extraordinary  de- 
gree, I  don't  see  how  we  are  to  fail  sinking  into  Moderatism. 
Some  people  absurdly  ascribe  the  diminished  zeal  of  ministers 
to  Seminaries.    This  is  much  as  if  I  should  ascribe  our  poor  beef 
to  the  change  of  market-house.     Those  who  never  saw  a  college 
or  seminary  are  as  low  as  we.     It  lies  deeper,  and  affects  the 
whole  church,  I  verily  believe.     It  means  just  this,  want  of  zeal 
for  the  salvation  of  souls.     Though  you  mentioned  Mr.  — -— 's 
"  losino-  his  eyesight,"  I  imagined  him  to  be  out  of  town,  till  I 
saw  he  was  dead.     Oh  how  my  conscience  pierces  me  that, 
though  he  was  my  occasional  hearer,  I  never  urged  this  matter 
on  him  in  private !     How,  how  shall  we  meet  people  at  judg- 
ment !     Addison's  popularity  in  Philadelphia  is  quite  extraor- 
dinary.^   I  am  pleased  to  think  that  it  urges  him  to  regard  more 
and  more  the  great  end  of  preaching.     Last  week  I  saw  a  new 
painting  (small)  by  Leslie,  "  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican ;  " 
it  begat  a  sermon  in  me.     Item,  a  copy  of  the  first  Bible  ever 
printed — the  Mazarln  Bible — of  which  only  nine  other  copies 
are  known  of.    It  is  perfect ;  two  vols,  folio;  Mentz,  1450-1455; 
illuminated,  incomparably  noble  for  paper,  ink,  and  press-work  ; 
printer  Guttenberg.    This  was  the  copy  of  Mr.  Hibbert.     Other 
copies  are  (so  far  as  I  remember)  1,  Bodleian;  2,  Mazarin  lib. 
Paris ;  3,  George  III.'s  lib.  British  Museum ;  4,  Advocates'  lib. 
Edinburgh ;  5,  late  Duke  of  Sussex's  lib. ;  6,  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire ;  7,  Estate  of  late  Richard  Heber,  Esq.     On  beholding  it, 
my  emotion  was  altogether  a  religious  one ;    thinking  of  the 
effects  of  the  printed  Scriptures. 

New  York,  December  14,  1847. 
You  see  [Chancellor]  Kent  is  dead.  Mr.  F.  tells  me  he 
lately  talked  with  him,  and  found  him  much  troubled  about  the 
"  new  birth,"  &c.  He  has  been  a  constant  defender  of  religion. 
H.,  in  his  new  book,  several  times  has  the  pleasant  adverb 
"  illy,"  which  does  not  sound  altogether  "  welly."  Pope-stock 
rises.  See  how  most  papers  take  the  Jesuit  side  in  regard  to 
Switzerland.      See  the  avatar  of  romish   prelates  in  England, 

^  He  was  supplying  the  pulpit  of  the  Teuth  Church  during  the  absence 
of  the  pastor,  Dr.  Boardman. 


78      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DIJAXE    ST.   CHmCH,   NEW  TOEK. 

with  legal  titles.  I  wish  I  had  a  copy  of  the  last  North  British, 
to  send  you  a  review  of  (Arnold's  friend)  Bunsen's  book  on  the 
Church.  I  have  seldom  been  more  moved  than  by  some  pas- 
sages there.  Do  try  to  get  hold  of  it.  It  opens  a  vista  into  an 
absolutely  new  forest  of  opinions  on  the  great  question  of  the 
age — the  Church.  For  high  churchism  to  be  rebuked  from  such 
a  height  as  the  cabinet  of  the  greatest  king  alive,  is  like  thunder 
from  mid  heaven.  And  yet  Bunsen's  is  a  kind  of  Catholicism  : 
only  it  makes  Puseyism  look  very  mean  and  toy-shop  like ; 
like  a  snug  China  mandarin  beside  a  Jupiter  tonans.  For  the 
relief  of  the  red  appearance  on  Hale's  church,^ 

"  ]^.  pap.  Kirwan,  3  iij. 

Van  Renss.  scrupuli  xxxiij. 
Fiat  haustus." 
Unless  penance  be  your  object,  I  see  no  rational  cause  of  lament 
at  the  freezing  off  of  your  bath  ;  for  all  health-purposes  indoor 
water  is  cold  enough.  Did  you  ever  read  the  story  of  Diogenes, 
embracing  the  brazen  statue,  in  winter  *?  Stand  in  a  good  big 
tub,  with  a  good  big  spunge,  and  give  yourself  a  swashing  of 
water  every  morning ;  that  is  Sir  Astley  Cooper's  recipe. 

New  Yoek,  January  4,  1848. 
I  am  a  little  belated  with  my  New  Year  wishes ;  but  they  are 
none  the  less  sincere  in  behalf  of  you  and  your  family,  and 
church.  Dr.  Spring  very  truly  said  yesterday,  at  our  cleric 
prayer-meeting,  that  ministers  sinned  when  they  did  not  care 
about  the  edification  of  their  neighbours'  churches.  He  also 
said  this  :  "  I  am  almost  tempted  at  this  late  day  to  prepare 
myself  to  preach  without  notes  ;  the  day  a  man  who  reads  his 
sermons  puts  on  spectacles,  he  is  shorn  of  half  his  strength." 
I  do  not  know  when  I  have  begun  a  year  with  more  serious 
feelings  j  even  the  hurly-burly  of  New  Year's  day  did  not  remove 
the  impression.  My  verse  for  the  year  is  Heb.  xiii.  8  :  "  Jesus 
Christ,  &c."  It  would  "  convene  "  me  very  much  (as  an  agent 
said  to  me  in  a  note)  if  you  would  come  on,  and  give  me  a 
sermon  ;  why  not  next  Sunday  evening  1  I  have,  for  some  time, 
had  three  services  ;  though  doubtful  about  my  duty  as  to  health. 
I  have  no  extras  to  lop  off;  never  having  made  a  platform- 
harangue  here ;  exhortations  are  not  ^2-tras.  Your  eclaircisse- 
ment  with  H.^  is   characteristic.     Nobody  ever   knows   whose 

^  When  the  scaifolding  of  the  new  church  at  Pennington,  N.  J.,  was 
taken  down,  it  was  discovered  that  the  workmen  had  disposed  some  red 
shites  among  the  black,  so  as  to  form  a  huge  cross  on  each  side  of  the  high 
roof. 

^  A  hearer  who  falsely  suspected  a  political  object  in  a  sermon. 


1844:— 1849.  Y9 

face  a  "  double-header  "  will  fly  into.  It  has  already  taught  you 
what  something  like  it  taught  me.  Hardly  any  thing  so  raises 
my  pride  and  indignation,  as  when  ministerial  independence  is 
assaulted  in  my  person ;  but  I  continue  to  have  difliculty  in 
knowing  how  the  line  lies  between  the  man  and  the  minister. 
la  regard  to  the  latter,  we  are  authorized  to  take  high  ground. 
I  am  much  reflected  on  by  a  few  in  my  congregation,  for  my 
expressed  opposition  to  the  w^ar.  My  Henry  will  feel  thankful 
for  the  coins  you  send,  when  they  shall  have  arrived ;  it  is,  how- 
ever, not  unfrequently  the  case,  in  this  island,  that  expected  coin 
fails  to  arrive.  You  do  not  mention  whether  sovereigns,  rupees, 
or  louis  d'or.  If  you  have  the  Missionary  Chronicle  for  1843, 
see  how  near  [the  Rev.  Walter  M.]  Lowrie  was  to  death  by 
drowning  in  1842,  (page  134.)  Then  it  was  that  he  was  pre- 
pared for  an  event  w4iich  occurred  five  years  later,  [August, 
1847.]  What  a  mercy  that  he  leaves  no  wife.  I  am  beginning 
the  year  with  a  weight  of  145  lbs.  Julius  Hare  (now  Arch- 
deacon of  Lewes)  has  a  volume  of  parish  sermons  I  should  like 
to  lend  you  ;  they  surpass  the  other  [Augustus  William]  Hare's 
(who  died  abroad)  whose  you  excerpted  from,  I  think,  for  the 
Journal.  The  Archdeaon's  are  as  plain,  but  more  racy.  Which 
of  us  would  say  as  follows  :  "  What,  I  ask,  have  you  been  doing 
during  the  whole  of  this  year  1833  %  Eating  and  drinking, 
sleeping  and  waking,  working  for  your  wages,  and  receiving  your 
wages,  and  spending  your  wages.  Well !  and  of  all  this,  what 
fruit  have  ye  now  ?  Nothing.  All  this  has  brought  you  forward 
in  the  journey  of  life,  just  as  much  as  a  horse  gets  forward  that 
keeps  going  round  and  round  in  a  mill.  How  will  you  ever  get 
to  heaven  in  the  end  1  And  if  you  do  not  get  to  heaven,  where 
will  you  be  1  When  this  world  is  swept  away,  there  will  be 
only  two  places ;  and  he  wdio  is  not  at  the  gate  of  heaven,  when 
he  dies,  will  find  himself  at  one  of  the  gates  of  hell.  For  hell  has 
a  thousand  gates,  yawning  around  us  on  every  side,  and  ready  to 
close  upon  us  and  shut  us  in ;  whereas  heaven  has  only  on,e 
gate,  even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  ^ 

^  With  the  saddening  associations  of  January,  1860,  I  find  on  one  of  the 
pages  of  the  letters  of  that  month  in  1848,  the  following  characteristic  spe- 
cimen of  the  humour  of  his  brother  Addison  : 

"  New  York,  7th  day,  1st  Month  18, 1S48. 

"Esteemed  Friend, — Xot  knowing  that  thy  mouth  had  been  opened  in 
meeting,  nor  even  that  thy  principles  were  friendly,  I  was  greatly  tendered 
to  learn  that  thou  has  had  a  concern  to  review  the  Life  of  Elizabeth  Fry, 
and  has  had  to  give  up  to  it.  I  trust  thy  piece  was  written  after  the  neces- 
sary preparatory  baptisms,  and  under  a  very  solemn  covering ;  and  also 
that  thou  will  follow  the  opening  in  which  thou  has  been  led  to  stand  up. 

"  Thy  friend,  Deborah  Darby." 


80      WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DTJAKE    ST.   CHUECH,   NEW  TOEK. 

Chambers  St.,  March  1,  1848. 

The  day  that  a  child  says  "  I  will "  or  "  I  won't"  a  second 
time,  is  a  bad  day  for  parent  and  cliild.  It  is  just  the  point 
where  our  American  license  begins  and  where  parental  capacity 
is  tried.  Probably  several  thousand  children  under  fourteen,  in 
this  city,  own  no  allegiance  whatever,  but  are  sui  juris. 

Mr.  G.  of  the  State  Department  dined  with  us  yesterday ; 
amazing  as  a  talker,  a  historian,  and  a  polyglott.  His  memory 
of  places,  maps,  dates,  and  facts,  is  beyond  all  I  ever  thought 
possible.  He  is  at  home  in  all  the  southern  languages.  Though 
he  spent  some  years  in  Italy,  he  thinks  Mexico  a  far  more 
interesting  country.  There  lies  on  my  table  a  letter,  dated 
Puebla,  January  1.  I  will  crib  a  few  sentences  :  "  I  am  still  in 
Puebla,  living  under  the  shade  of  the  glorious  Popocatapetl ; 
what  a  mountain !  The  very  sight  of  it  would  pay  for  a  visit  to 
Mexico.  One  of  the  greatest  curiosities  in  this  city  is  the 
library  and  picture-gallery  of  the  late  Bishop.  The  library  is 
the  finest  private  one  I  have  ever  seen.  Among  the  pictures 
are  some  of  great  value.  He  was  a  man  of  great  eru- 
dition, cultivated  manners,  and  elegant  tastes,  and  appears  to 
have  been  beloved  by  all  classes  of  people.  He  died  on  the 
nth  of  October  last,  at  the  ancient  city  of  Cholula,  aet.  80. 
This  library,  the  pictures,  and  various  articles  of  virtu,  were 
bequeathed  to  the  poor."  "  I  have  been  reading  Prescott ;  and 
you  may  judge  of  the  pleasure  of  such  pages,  on  the  very  soil 
immortalized  by  the  achievements  of  the  '  Conqueror.'  "  "  I 
am  reading  Clavigero,  one  of  the  best  historians  of  ancient 
]\Iexico  ;  to  whom  Prescott  is  much  indebted  for  his  elegant 
work."  "  The  [theatrical]  pieces  called  2>cLstorellas  are  a  mixture 
of  the  ludicrous  and  the  religious ;  the  infant  Saviour,  Joseph, 
INIary,  the  manger,  the  ass,  being  introduced  on  the  stage,  the 
piece  winding  up  with  la  Pollxt.^^  Mr.  G.  says  the  constant 
impression  made  on  him,  all  over  Mexico,  Avas,  that  the  people 
are  an  Indian  race ;  the  white  and  the  black  blood  secondary. 
The  new  treaty  will  give  us  "  little  but  deserts  ;  "  but  better  we 
should  have  these  (for  the  ^Mexicans)  than  they ;  it  will  more 
effectually  keep  our  fellows  off  their  border.  O  how  desirous 
one  feels  that  the  Gospel  might  pour  in  through  these  channels  ! 
What  a  glorious  thing  if  the  ambition  of  war  could  only  be 
emulated  by  any  analogous  zeal  for  the  introduction  of  the 
Gospel !  I  do  not  perceive  why  these  poor,  simple,  brave,  per- 
fidious, paganized  people  might  not  be  plied  by  thousands  of 
books  and  tracts.  They  are  not  more  hopeless  than  were  the 
boors  of  Bohemia  and  Germany,  when  the  ti'acts  of  Wiclif  and 
the  Lollards  came  among  them,    or  than  the  Swiss  mountaineers 


1844—1849.  81 

when  the  writings  of  Zuingle  and  Calvin  roused  them.  Further, 
I  soberly  think  some  daring  young  ministers  (if  any  such  are 
left  in  these  days  of  literary  clerical  2^etii-ma{lres)  ought  to  dash 
into  Vera  Cruz,  Perote,  Puebla,  and  Mexico,  and  blow  at  least  a 
long  loud  blast  of  defiance,  where  Satan's  seat  is.  In  1555,  men 
were  found  to  go  to  torrid  Brazil,  from  Geneva ;  and  several 
died  martyrs  there.  I  have  expressed  this  opinion  in  my  official 
capacity ;  but  my  brethren  think  me  flighty.  Would  God  my 
boys  might  preach  Christ  in  that,  or  any  other  foreign  land ;  so 
only  they  be  faithful !     Amen. 

New  York,  March  28,  1848. 
Gurley,  the  auctioneer,  who  has  just  died  of  erysipelas,  will 
be  regretted.     He  was  a  wonderful  bibliographer,  and  a  man  of 
remarkable  tact  and  courtesy,  as  well  as  honesty.     I  never  heard 
him  make  an  extravagant  remark,  in  selling.     The  news  by  the 
"Caledonia"   surprises   people.     That   the    [French]    Republic 
should  slip  on  the  rails,  as  by  a  mere  turning  of  the  switch,  with 
no  friction  and   loss  of  life,  is  wonderful.     The  editor  of  the 
"  Schnell  Post,"  a  German  radical,  was  off  in  the  "  Cambria,"  as 
soon  as  the  first  news  came,  to  take  part  in  the  revolution  that 
is  to  be  in  Germany.     Two  of  his  comrades  sang  the  Marseillaise 
to   him,    from   the   wharf.     The   horrible   treachery    of    Louis 
Philippe,  in  regard  to  the  Protestants,  and  especially  the  Spanish 
marriages,  is  now  visited  on  him  ;  as  well  as  the  blood  of  French- 
men and  Arabs  shed  for  nothing  in  Algeria.     Algeria  declared 
part  of  the  French  Republic  !     We  have  authorized  a  new  mis- 
sion under  the  Equator,  near  J.  L.  Wilson,  and  at  his  instance. 
None  of  the  return-missionaries  have  instructed  me  more  than 
he.      History  has  often  made  much  of  less  daring  than  his. 
The  practice  of  funeral  sermons  months  2^081  mortem  is  common 
in  Virginia ;  I  think  the  more  common  way  in  rural  places.     I 
lament  to  hear  such  painful  things  of  your  kind  old  aunt ;  my 
mind  reverts  to  antediluvian  banquets,  of  steaming  coffee,  cakes 
and  sausage.     May  the  world  never  want  a  race  of  affectionate 
old-flishioned  people,  who  shall  so  spread  their  bounties  as  to 
make  them  remembered  for  a  whole  generation  !     I  wish  her  a 
safe  and  gentle  descent  down  the  slippery  foot  of  the  hill.     By 
reason  of  preaching  twice  on  Sunday,  as  I  ought  not,  on  top  of 
a  sore  throat,  I  have  made  myself  ("  war-horse  "  as  a  plain  man 
translated)  hors  de  combat.     I  believe  I  make  less  of  [ecclesias- 
tical] differences  than  I  did.     Though  a  reunion  with  the  New 
School  body,  just  as  it  is,  would  be  unedifying,  and  a  signal  for 
unprecedented  squabbles  and  disciplines,  I  think  there  are  many 
among  them  with  whom  we  ought  to  maintain  the  most  brotherly 

VOL  II. — 4* 


82       "WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DrAKE    ST.   CHUKCH,   NEW  TOEK. 

correspondence.  Nevin  [Mercersburg]  holds  unimaginable  doc- 
trines ',  e.  g.  that  Christ  is  now  incarnate  in  the  church ;  (pro- 
gressively ;)  that  whoso  denies  this,  is  an  anti-christ ;  that  we 
eat  Christ's  body,  and  derive  our  life  from  it,  so  that  our  life  is 
the  very  life  (theanthropic  life)  which  Christ  has ;  that  we  are 
justified  by  the  transfusion  of  Christ's  righteousness,  as  head, 
to  us  as  members ;  (the  poj^ish  doctrine ;)  that  all  other  Pres- 
byterians in  America  are  a  set  of  Puritans,  who  have  apostatized 
from  Calvin. 

New  York,  3fay  11,  1848. 

Dr.  Neander's  Life  of  Jesus  is  about  as  bad  a  book,  for  us, 
as  could  be  furnished  by  Germany.  It  will  keep  in  countenance 
those  numerous  persons  who  are  half  ready  to  give  up  all  inspi- 
ration. The  book  of  the  day  is  the  Life  of  Pollok,  by  Scott. 
Take  a  few  sentences  :  "  Scotland  gave  him  birth,  and  England 
donated  him  a  tomb;"  p.  350.  "His  hair  dark,  and  his  counte- 
nance touched  with  the  olivaster  shade  ;  "  p.  360.  "  His  thoughts, 
imagery,  logomachy,  style,  and  plan  are  his  own,  and  most  apj)ro- 
priate  for  the  great  psalm  which  he  indited  ;  "  p.  362.  If  you 
ever  see  it  in  a  shop,  read  the  first  sentence,  which  is  too  big  and 
rotten  to  bear  transportation.  Dr.  Schroeder's  people  have 
bought  the  Eighth  Street  church.  There  had  been  a  little  squint- 
ing towards  it  among  our  folks,  but  they  got  no  countenance  from 
me. 

At  no  time  have  things  looked  duller  in  my  charge.  Addi- 
tions very  few,  and  a  general  fluctuation,  which  makes  me  doubt 
whether  our  church,  like  so  many  others,  will  not  be  swept  away 
before  the  surge  of  commerce.  About  twelve  families  leave  us. 
Of  nine  persons  dismissed  by  us  since  last  communion,  all  but 
one  were  dismissed  to  us  within  five  years.  If  my  powers  were 
of  the  arousing  sort,  I  might  hope  for  more  in  a  mission-church, 
but  all  the  little  I  can  attempt  is  in  the  way  of  gradual  training 
and  this  requires  people  to  stay  with  you.  Our  Sunday  services 
are  as  full  as  ever,  but  our  other  indications  are  all  bad".  When 
I  look  at  home,  I  no  longer  marvel  it  should  be  so.  There  is 
some  likelihood  that  I  shall  take  boarding  for  my  family  at 
Astoria,  for  about  six  w^eeks  in  summer  ;  it  is  an  hour  by  coach, 
and  half  an  hour  by  steamboat ;  and  is  right  on  the  strait  and 
violent  channel  between  the  East  River  and  the  Sound  :  "  Hurl- 
gate." 

Accept  for  self  and  co.  our  loves,  and  allow  me  to  subscribe 
myself,  in  the  mode  which  threatens  to  become  the  laconism  of 
American  epistles, 

"  Respectfully,  &c." 


J 


1841—1849.  83 


New  York,  May  30,  1848. 
Ill  yours  of  the  16tli,  you  speak  of  "  chirograpliy  "  vice 
"  penmanship  ; "  it  would  be  a  good  exercise  in  a  school  or 
college,  or  even  for  ourselves,  to  make  out  a  list  of  cases  in 
which  the  lean  kine  have  thus  eaten  up  the  fat :  e.  g.  "  com- 
mence "  for  "begin,"  "truthful"  for  "  true,"  (though  it  has  a 
meaning  of  its  own  ;)  "  indebtedness  "  for  "  debt ;  "  "  stand- 
point "  for  "  point  of  view  ;  "  &c.  This  month  is  turning  into 
a  Pluviose.  I  see  numbers  of  waistcoats  a  la  Robespierre ; 
white,  with  high  turn-over  lappels.  The  "  cafe  des  1,000  colon- 
nes"  has  come  out  fresh  as  "cafe  de  la  Republique."  Mr. 
Bridel  has  large  congregations  in  French  ;  on  these  occasions  he 
confines  himself  to  the  simple  gospel.  Tour  prayers  and  two 
entire  chapters  in  the  service;  opening  prayer  read,  and  apos- 
tolical benediction  at  beginning,  as  in  France.  I  have  just  read 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  for  the  first  time  ;  it  is  not  a  dry  list 
of  points,  but  a  beautiful  and  stirring  argument  and  protest.  I 
fear  from  hints  in  papers,  that  the  General  Assembly  are  going 
to  apply  the  knife  of  frugality  to  the  very  life  of  our  Boards  ; 
perhaps  I  mistake.  At  a  moment  when  the  world,  in  its  very 
selfishness,  sees  the  importance  of  giving  full  salaries,  &c.,  in 
every  bank  and  insurance-office,  what  a  cowardly  concession  to 

misers  and  Nabals,  to  complain  that  such  a  man  as ,  gets 

his  $1,500  or  $1,800.  Mr.  Sosnosky  (I  need  not  say  whence)  is 
colporting  here,  among  French,  as  Mr.  Rauschenbusch  among 
Germans.  On  the  28th  and  29th  the  emigrants  landed  at  our 
Quarantine,  for  the  two  days,  =  10,030  ;  mostly  Germans,  and  no 
disease  but  small-pox.  Are  any  of  us  at  all  awake  to  what  this 
influx  means  1  I  propose  D.  v.  to  take  my  family  out  of  this 
noise  about  the  middle  of  June,  to  some  quiet  riverside,  near 
enough  for  me  to  do  duty.  After  that,  I  will  make  an  exchange 
with  you,  or  will  go  to  you  without  exchange,  as  circumstances 
may  admit.  I  see,  beyond  denial,  that  my  congregation  is  suffer- 
ing from  its  site.  Though  we  have  tens  of  thousands  down- 
town, they  are  mission  folks,  and  increasingly  foreigners,  if  not 
papists.  The  talent  they  require  is  not  mine.  I  say  truly, 
when  I  add,  that  I  have  not  even  a  momentary  hankering  for 
uptown  :  my  leading  members  feel  otherwise ;  so  should  I,  were 
I  they.  We  have  sent  away  about  fifteen  families  this  spring, 
thither  and  out  of  town. 

Astoria,  June  22,  1848. 
We  have  six  j^assages  a  day,  from  here  to  town,  by  steam- 
boat, besides  omnibus  and  railway  on  crossing  the  ferry — the 


S4c      WHILE   PASTOR  OF  DTJAKE   ST.   CHUECH,  NEW  YOEK. 

latter  every  hour.  Price  sixpence.  This  is  a  beautiful  cove  on 
the  end  of  Long  Island,  formerly  called  Hallet's  Cove,  and  just 
opposite  the  upper  end  of  BlackwelFs  Island.  From  the  upper 
windows  of  this  house  we  can  see  across  to  the  North  River. 
All  the  navigation  of  the  Sound  passes  directly  at  our  feet ;  for 
the  house  (Mr.  Henry  Mulligan's)  is  on  a  terraced  bank,  at  the 
bottom  of  which,  separated  only  by  a  road,  is  the  East  River. 
I  think  it  an  unspeakable  mercy  to  be  permitted  to  bring  my 
family  here,  as cannot  bear  a  longer  trip,  and  we  have  a  down- 
stairs room,  two  piazzas,  a  fine  garden,  and  a  lawn  like  a  noble- 
man's. To  me  it  is  almost  like  being  in  town.  Next  lot  is  Mr. 
George  Douglass ;  next  Dr.  Alexander  Stevens ;  next  Thorburn's 
nursery,  &c.  Mr.  Walker  (elder)  and  Mr.  Jas.  Soutter  are  out 
here.  The  sea-air  is  very  perceptible.  Last  night  a  quite  thick 
blanket  was  in  order.  I  saw  old  Mr.  [Albert]  Gallatin  yester- 
day ;  a  wonderful,  wonderful  man !  I  am  always  struck  with  the 
fact,  that  the  whole  of  his  conversation  is  on  important  topics, 
always  in  choice  language,  and  always  novel.  He  gave  me  the 
best^account  I  ever  had  of  the  respective  systems  of  Boodh, 
Brahma,  and  Confucius;  of  the  Chinese  language  and  of  the 
Polynesian  languages.  He  showed  me  the  latest  Genevese 
version  of  the  Bible  in  3  vols.  8vo,  and  laughingly  said  it  was 
"very  orthodox."  He  showed  me  a  book  on  Geneva,  by 
Goliffe,  and  complained  that  he  was  very  unfair  to  Calvin,  whom 
Mr.  G.  regards  as  one  of  the  greatest  mortals.  On  a  former 
occasion  he  drew  a  comparison  between  Calvin  and  the  Puritans, 
on  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  &c.,  very  unfavourable  to  the  latter. 
He  has  just  completed  a  volume,  of  some  hundreds  of  pages, 
on  the  Aboriginal  languages  of  America.  His  ethical  and  the- 
istical  feelings  are  very  correct  and  profound ;  I  cannot  find  out 
what  he  thinks  of  Christ.  He  is  minutely  acquainted  with  all 
the  nice  points  of  Calvinistic  controversy. 

Albany,  Jtdy  28,  1848. 
You  wall  hardly  believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  went  to  Sara- 
toga reluctantly;  nothing  but  a  desire  to  gratify  my  good 
mother,  who  needed  the  water  and  a  companion,  took  me 
thither.  We  remained  just  a  week.  It  is  a  most  unagreeable 
place  to  me,  unspeakably  less  agreeable  than  the  seashore.  We 
left  there  yesterday,  and  made  the  trip  to  this  place  in  a  heavy 
rain   and   thunder-storm.      I   propose   to   preach   at   home   on 

Sunday. 

I  am  at  the  Delavan  House,  which  I  continue  to  think,  of 
taverns,  the  best  house  I  ever  stopped  at.  When  we  came  up 
in  the  boat  last  week,  we  had  the  Van  Burens,  fiUher  and  son, 


184:4— ISttO.  85 

with  us  ;  Martin  looks  hale,  and  had  a  fresh  cabbage-leaf  inside 
of  his  hat ;  reason  unknown.  To  one  who  passes  up  the  East 
River,  Dr.  Tyng's  church  is  the  most  conspicuous  building  in 
upper  New  York,  and  yet  it  wants  the  two  steeple-towers,  which 
are  to  be  250 — 300  feet  high.  The  church  is  to  seat  2,000,  and 
to  cost,  they  say,  $200,000.  There  is  a  vestry-discussion  as  to 
which  of  the  two  houses  shall  be  St.  George's  church,  and  which 
St.  George's  chapel. 

After  some  hot,  steaming  days,  this  is  one  of  the  pleasantest 
of  the  season.  I  have  been  giving  my  mother  and  sister  a  drive 
around  the  city  ;  and  am  much  surprised  to  find  so  many  im- 
provements, beautiful  buildings,  sweet  gardens,  &c.  The  upper 
part  is  to  be  very  charming. 

New  York,  August  21,  1848. 
This  is  my  first  literary  act,  on  returning  home,  after  an 
absence  of  58  days.  Seldom  have  I  been  gladder  to  get  back, 
for  I  have  scarcely  had  a  week  without  illness.  The  Hellgate 
end  of  Long  Island  is  almost  as  much  broken  into  ups  and  downs, 
as  a  mountain-ridge.  My  second  sojourn  was  with  my  elder 
Walker.  From  his  house  I  could  see,  not  only  Astoria,  the 
East  River,  and  the  west  side  of  the  North  River,  but  Staten 
Island,  and  a  fine  view  of  New  York  in  the  distance.  Astoria  is 
a  place  of  villas.  The  sea-breeze  is  fresh,  but  I  opine  they  will 
have  agues.  Nearly  100  embark  on  the  little  steamers  for  New 
York  every  morning.  My  first  visiter,  on  return,  was  Mr. 
Bridel,  a  very  lovely  little  man.  There  has  been  great  prev- 
alence of  dysentery  on  Long  Island,  and  in  other  country-places 
about  here.  New  York  has  also  approximated,  this  year,  towards 
Philadelphia,  in  respect  to  cholera  infantum.  I  observe  by  the 
bills,  however,  that  febrile  disorders  decrease,  in  the  ratio  that 
bowel-disorders  increase ;  e.  g.  last  week  but  one,  of  all  fevers, 
14;  of  all  bowel-ills,  114;  last  week,  of  former  26,  of  latter 
126.  Good  old  Dr.  Miller  said  to  me,  the  other  day  :  "  When 
the  semi-centenary  of  my  ministry  came  round,  I  was  glad  to 
let  it  pass  in  silence,  as  I  was  ashamed  of  my  ministerial  per- 
formances." When  Dr.  Emmons  was  dying,  he  said  to  Dr. 
Hawes  :  "  I  shall  soon  be  on  the  other  side,  but  O  how  ashamed 
I  shall  feel,  to  be  there  !  "  I  lately  saw,  in  German,  a  history 
of  the  world,  in  many  volumes,  all  biographical ;  i.  e.  a  chain 
of  individuals,  from  Adam  down,  each  comprising  the  age  he 
lived  in  :  it  struck  me  that  a  Biblical  History,  on  a  similar  plan, 
might  fill  a  series  of  lectures.  It  is  remarkable  how  much  this 
is  the  plan  of  the  Bible  itself.  Addison  is  here,  on  his  way  to 
orate  at  East  Windsor. 


86      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUANE   ST.   CHUECH,    NEW  YOEK. 

New  York,  September  7,  1848, 
The  rumours  of  yellow-fever  die  away.     The  Board  of  Health 
ceases  to  report  any  at  the  Curreniine — such  is  the  current  pro- 
nunciation— and  no  cases  are  believed  to  exist  on  this  island. 

Dr.    ,  of  Glasgow,  was  in  my  church  on  Sunday.     Like 

almost  all  these  Scotsmen,  he  seems  to  have  a  mighty  good  con- 
ceit of  himself,  and  a  superciliousness  towards  every  thing  Ameri- 
can ;  this  incenses  me,  because  there  is  so  little  pretence  of  foun- 
dation for  it.  I  could  perhaps  bear  it  in  an  Oxonian  or  Cantab 
dignitary ;  but  in  a  snuffy  Sawney,  speaking  the  horriblest  dialect 
that  ever  came  from  the  mouth  of  a  Briton,  I  can't  stand  it. 
People  are  beginning  to  come  back  to  their  quarters  ;  and,  after 
all,  there  is  nothing  like  one's  own  home. 

1  do  not  think  the  Sunday  School  Journal  can  ever  occupy 
that  place  in  public  notice  which  its  redaction  merits ;  its  title 
is  so  narrow,  and  its  period  of  revolution  in  its  orbit  so  long  and 
irregular :  I  would  as  soon  calculate  the  moon's  motion,  as  tell 
when  it  is  coming.  We  have  again  essayed  a  ministers'  prayer- 
meeting  ;  I  don't  know  how  it  will  go.  Text  last  Sunday  after- 
noon, Ecc.  iv.  9,  10.  A  clergyman,  known  to  me,  publicly  read 
in  a  service,  a  chapter  in  the  Apocrypha,  and  never  found  it  out. 
I  have  been  reperusing  Herodotus,  in  English.  Several  things 
strike  me  :  1.  It  is  a  series  of  grand  old  stories  ;  as  entertaining 
as  the  Arabian  Nights.  2.  The  extraordinary  advance  of  the 
world,  since  then,  in  science.  What  hideous  incredibilities ! 
3.  The  equal  advance  (under  Christianity)  of  humanity.  You 
can  scarcely  read  ten  pages  anywhere  in  Herodotus,  without 
lighting  on  some  atrocity.  4.  A  delightful  book  might  be 
made,  by  stringing  together  the  best  ancient  narratives,  cutting 
off*  superfluities,  and  taking  any  liberties  with  language,  and 
entitling.  Stories  from  the  Old  Historians^  In  a  month,  one 
might  from  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Xenophon,  Plutarch,  Dio- 
genes Laertius,  Livy,  Sallust,  and  Tacitus,  make  one  of  the  best 
and  most  saleable  volumes  of  the  day.  It  should  have  many 
maps,  titles,  notes,  and  Christian  comments,  and  should  be 
well  printed.  It  would  necessarily  comprise  the  most  famous 
events  of  olden  time,  such  as  people  are  constantly  alluding  to, 
without  exact  knowledge.  Plutarch  is  an  inexhaustible  magazine 
himself. 

New  York,  October  11,  1848. 
The  loss  of  good  Mrs.  Rice,'^  gives  me  many  serious  feelings. 

^  His  correspondent  had  anticipated  this  hint  in  a  series  of  "  Old 
Stories  "  from  Herodotus  :  Sunday  School  Journal,  September  and  October, 
1839. 

2  Of  Trenton,  see  vol.  i.,  186,  201. 


1844—1849.  87 

The  more  I  think  of  it,  the  more  I  believe,  that  such  quiet  and 
meekness  of  well-doing  ^Yill  be  more  prized  in  "  that  day,"  than 
many  brilliant  qualities.  How  much  better  than  the  self-tor- 
menting pride  we  have  known  in  some  families.  I  am  glad  your 
tour  in  the  Pines  has  caused  itinerancy  to  rise  in  your  estima- 
tion ;  Presbyterianism  owes  almost  its  existence  to  it,  in  new 
settlements.  Do  you  see  that  Nevin  sets  up  the  "  Mercersburg 
Review  "  1  I  have  been  with  my  children  to  the  Fair  of  the 
American  Institute,  in  Castle  Garden.  There  were  thousands  of 
things,  but  not  much  that  I  coveted,  except  the  pears.  They 
talk  of  building  out  the  Battery  further  into  the  bay.  A  balloon 
and  man  went  up  to-day.  A  military  band  is  going  by,  which 
reminds  me  how  vastly  that  branch  of  art  is  improved  since  my 
boyish  clays ;  I  am  as  much  pleased  with  the  sound  as  I  ever  was. 
The  numloer  of  such  bands  is  astonishing ;  great  numbers  of 
them  are  Germans.  Surgeons  see  a  very  bloody  side  of  war.  I 
observe  that  Luther's  original  Catechism  omits  the  second  com- 
mandment, and  divides  the  tenth ;  just  as  the  Papists  do.  On  the 
first  of  this  month,  my  father  said  it  was  the  anniversary  of  his 
licensure,  fifty-seven  years  ago  ;  I  have  his  trial-sermon,  though 
he  does  not  know  it. 

New  York,  October  29,  1848. 
T  congratulate  in  regard  to  your  North  Church  ;  it  was  time, 
and  it  will  not  hurt  the  "  old  South."  The  Repertory  Article  on 
Chalmers,  is  by  my  father,  who  seldom  contributes  now.  Paul 
Delaroche's  great  painting  of  Napoleon  crossing  the  Alps,  is  in 
the  new  style — matter-of-fact ;  nothing  ideal.  You  see  the  wear 
and  tear  of  the  breeches,  and  gray  surtout ;  the  mule  is  a  com- 
mon mule.  In  this  respect,  one  is  gratified.  You  remember 
David's  on  the  same  subject,  in  the  old  Academy.  I  have  just 
received  notice  that  the  Board  [of  Publication]  would  stereotype 
my  "  Family  Worship."  Looking  over  Walsh's  "  United  States 
and  England,''  lately,  I  find  it  entirely  free  from  those  twists  of 
diction,  which  characterize  his  later  writings.  It  would  surely 
be  carrying  coals  to  Newcastle,  to  give  you  any  ana  of  Mr. 
[James  F.]  Armstrong,  [of  Trenton,]  close  as  you  are  to  head- 
quarters. I  remember  the  old  gentleman  very  well ;  but  he  was 
past  preaching.  You  know  he  had  a  fine  library.  Where  are 
all  his  sermons  1  what  becomes  of  sermons  1  He  was  very 
much  the  gentleman ;  cordial  and  benignant,  even  to  children ;  dis- 
posed to  fun.  I  have  heard  that  he  was  very  animated  and 
pathetic  in  his  discourses,  when  in  his  prime.  I  suppose  Mr.  A. 
would  have  been  called  an  old-side  Presbyterian.  He  was  of 
the  Stanhope  Smith  school,  and  they  were  very  intimate.     Ask 


88      WHILE   PASTOE   OF   DrANE    ST.    CHUECH,   NEW  TOEK. 

for  the  exact  particulars  of  an  incident,  at  the  old  parsonage, 
between  Mr.  A.  and  Dr.  Witherspoon,  when  the  Dr.  came  with 
coach-and-four,  just  after  his  marriage  to  a  young  wife.  We  are 
in  ex23ectation  of  the  cholera  soon  in  New  York.  I  heard  Gough 
the  other  night,  and  still  think  him  a  master  of  eloquence  in  his 
way.  [David]  Lord  is  really  a  genius.  I  don't  believe  in  his 
apj^lications,  but  his  main  principles  [of  interpreting  Prophecy] 
are  the  true  ones,  and  are  almost  self-evident.  He  takes  all  the 
symbols  which  are  explained  in  the  Scriptures,  and  from  these 
deduces  rules. 

New  York,  Novemher  16,  1848, 
I  have  ministered  at  two  instalments,  within  a  week,  and 
have  taken  a  very  annoying  cold.  I  never  was  in  the  Jersey 
City  church  till  yesterday  ;  ^  you  know  it  is  the  old  Wall  Street 
do. ;  it  is  a  model  of  beauty  to  my  eye.  I  know  of  no  good 
models  for  cheaper  edifices.  Potts  once  named  to  me,  as  a  great 
invention  of  a  certain  architect,  a  very  economical  plan,  of  so 
building  that  the  church  might  at  any  future  time  be  enlarged  in 
either  dimension.  At  Yorkville,  where  I  was  installing'^  last 
week,  Mr.  Butts  has  put  up  a  very  snug  affliir  for  $1,500 ;  wood. 
A  MS.  history  of  Virginia  has  come  to  light,  several  years  older 
than  Capt.  John  Smith's.  It  makes  the  bragging  descendants  of 
the  princess  Pocahontas  flutter,  as  it  shows  that  her  highness 
had  an  Indian  husband  two  years  before  she  was  married  to 
Ptolfe. 

My  heart  is  thankful  for  the  result  of  the  election.  What- 
ever  Gen.  Taylor  may  do,  or  not  do,  the  reign  of  corrupt  ofiice- 
holders  is  broken  for  a  time.  Old  Mr.  Johnstone  showed  me  a 
whole  sermon  written  on  half  such  a  sheet  as  this  :  he  says  his 
flither,  who  was  a  clergyman,  taught  him  it  when  he  was  a  boy, 
and  he  has  used  it  ever  since  to  the  paving  of  much  eye  and 
hand,  ink,  paper,  and  time.  By  a  home-made  scheme  of  small 
marks  for  the  most  commonly  occurring  words,  (the,  and,  for, 
from,  Gospel,  church,  proof,  text,)  it  is  surprising  to  one  who 
has  not  made  the  calculation,  how  much  work  is  abridged.  By 
about  fifty  such  marks,  I  think  fully  half  would  be  saved.     What 

a  libel  on  Mary  ]\fagdalene,  to  name after  her  ;  there  is  not 

a  breath  of  proof  that  she  was  a  profligate  person  ;  or  even  that 
she  was  the  sinful  woman  of  Simon's  house  :  there  is  every 
presumption  that  she  was  a  lady  of  leisure,  if  not  of  wealth. 

^  "When  he  preached  at  the  ordination  and  instalment  (as  assistant  pas- 
tor) of  the  Rev.  Lewis  II.  Lee. 
^  The  Rev.  Joshua  Butts. 


ISltt— 1849.  89 

N'ew  York,  December  14,  1848. 

I  can  scarce  think  of  a  finer  subject  for  a  Philadelphian  to 
write  on,  than  "  The  first  hundred  years  of  PhiLadelphia."  The 
first  fifty  would  be  the  chief.  Men  and  manners,  houses,  anti- 
quities, &c.  How  Watson  [Annals]  has  murdered  this  in  his 
Higgledy-piggledy  !  The  gold  fever  is  wondrous  ;  thirty-one 
vessels  now^'advertised  for  California.  Mr.  O.  hired  a  ship  to 
government ;  when  arrived  all  hands  deserted  ;  could  not  get  a 
raft  manned ;  consequence,  United  States  forfeits  to  Mr.  O.  $80 
per  diem,  for  every  day  the  ship  is  detained  beyond  a  certain 
time. 

Dr.  Dill  [from  Ireland]  is  a  superior  man;  young,  but 
canny,  like  Cunningham.  He  is  tall  and  eloquent.  A  couple, 
former  Finneyites,  whipped  their  children,  to  make  them  sub- 
mit ;  next  became  perfectionists  ;  next  rejected  Old  Testament, 
and  now  are  wondering  after  Davis,  the  clairvoyant.  I  have 
just  been  buying  my  winter  butter  at  22  cents ;  but  I  reckon 
you  can  get  it  cheaper,  as  I  know  you  can  better.  I  have  never, 
in  a  single  instance,  tasted  New  York  butter  equal  to  Phila- 
delphia. Old  Schoolism  has  no  good  chance  in  New  York,  where 
the  warp  is  Dutch  and  the  woof  Yankee.  See  how  little  room 
between 


Naturally  enough  all  immigrant  Yankees  go  to  the  Congrega- 
tionalists.  The  Dutch  churches  here  command  my  respect  for  their 
peacefulness  and  conservatism.  The  state  of  things  in  Austria 
and  Prussia  looks  very  threatening.  It  looks  like  another 
general  war  in  Europe.  Hengstenberg  and  his  class  denounce 
all  this  liberalism  as  Anti-christ  itself;  and  these  are  the  king's 
advisers.  Domestic  Missions  seems  to  be  pointed  out  as  our 
work.  A  letter  of  my  grandfather  Waddel  has  come  to  hand, 
dictated  by  him,  in  blindness,  to  my  mother,  and  addressed^  to 
Dr.  Hoge.  It  has  one  remarkable  sentence  :  "  There  is  a  mini- 
mum  feci  written  on  all  the  actions  of  my  life." 


90       WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DrANTE    ST.   CHrKCH,   NEW  YOEK. 

Neat  York,  December  22,  1848. 

Lately  I   sent   two  small  articles  to  the  "  American  Mes- 
senger."    They  circulate  130,000.     I  suppose  the  snow  which  is 
coming  clown  here  is  also  coming  down  on  you.     The  new  Con 
gregattonal  Journal,  the  "  Independent,"  has   taken   in   Joshua 
Leavitt,  as  the  real  editor.     They  lead  off  with  much  spirit. 

Another  death  of  cholera  in  town  yesterday.  All  the  old 
disputes  about  contagion.  Every  case  thus  far  is  traceable  to 
the  crew  of  the  "  New  York."  The  rate  of  mortality  here  is 
formidable.  Yesterday's  case  was  just  from  Pittsburg,  but  had 
communication  with  above  passengers.  Dr.  Stevens,  who,  in 
last  cholera,  said  "  No  contagion,"  now  talks  otherwise.  In  look- 
ing at  the  history  of  the  Puritans,  I  find  very  few  of  the  things 
which  they  scrupled  to  be  such  as  would  hurt  my  conscience ; 
though  I  might  wish  them  altered.  The  tendencies  of  Independ- 
encyin  England  have  been  very  latitudinary  and  disorganizing. 

I  was  at  the  New  York  Lying-in-Asylum,  yesterday.  What 
a  blessed  refuge  for  poor  creatures  in  their  extremit}^ !  Last 
year  between  two  and  three  hundred  confinements,  and  not  one 
death,  or  unhappy  result ! 

Carter  has  imported  a  very  large  stock  of  the  Bibles  printed 
at  Coldstream,  by  Dr.  Adam  Thompson,  who  broke  up  the 
monopoly.  As  imported  books,  paying  ten  per  cent.,  their 
cheapness  is  remarkable  ;  and  they  are  worth  looking  at,  by  one 
who  loves  linen-paper,  British  press-work,  and  immaculate  typo- 
graphy. The  small  New  Testaments  are  12|-  cents,  small  Bibles 
25, 50,  &c.  Large  4to  Family  Bible,  with  short  notes,  calf,  $5.  All 
have  the  Scotch  Psalms ;  all  are  faulty  in  regard  to  size  of  paper. 

I  once  mentioned  to  you  the  erroneous  and  deceptive  reten- 
tion of  the  e  in  Urbane.  The  same  is  true  of  clothes,  which 
should  be  cloths,  to  be  intelligible  to  modern  readers.  The 
Scotch  Bibles  all  have  "  brasen,  mortar,  caterpillar,  jubik, 
throughly ;  "  in  this  agreeing  with  the  English.     It  seems  odd 

to  me,  that should  praise  A.  Monod  &  Co.  for  sticking  to 

a  National  church,  which  is  Arian,  and  which,  by  synodal  act, 
has  refused  to  make  either  baptism  or  moral  conduct  a  con- 
dition of  church-membership. 

To-day  I  went  to  see  a  sick  parishioner.  All  shut.  Dead. 
What  solemn  reflections  should  this  produce  ! 

A  doctor  from  Bellevue  almshouse  tells  me  they  have  the 
ship-fever  there  horribly ;  it  broke  out  in  a  room  of  eighty 
persons.  Conscience,  about  such  matters,  is  so  dispersed,  as  to 
amount  to  nothing.  The  filth  of  our  streets  is  absolutely  mys- 
terious. In  the  driest  weather  I  have  seen  the  crossings  quite 
sloppy  ;  this  is  chiefly  from  ordure  and  swill,  squeezed  up  from 


1844—1819.  91 

between  the  paving-stones,  by  the  heavy  loads,  &c.  The  Irish 
Deputation  [Dill  and  Simpson]  have  netted  more  than  $6,000  in 
this  city.  With  all  its  faults  New  York  is  certainly  a  giving  place. 
My  old  chum,  Waterbury,  preached  for  me  on  Sunday. 
Princeton  must  have  been  very  rank  for  doctorizing,  not  to 
be  able  to  contain  till  Commencement ;  perhaps  they  were  afraid 
the  candidates  would  die.  So  Baptist  Noel  has  come  out  of  the 
Establishment.     I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the  method. 

New  York,  January  8,  1849. 
A  Happy  New  Year  !     In  what  country  but  Scotland  would 
950  [Prize]  essays  on  the  Sabbath  be  sent  in  by  labouring  men  ? 
This  even  more  strikes  me  than  that  the  best  should  be  written 
by  a  woman,  ["  The  Pearl  of   Days."]     I  think  almost  every 
body  undervalues  the  actual  good  done  by  our  Missions ;  say, 
among  the  Indians ;  which  is  the  one  I  regard  most.     Just  in 
their  intancy,  yet  they  affect  the  tribes  through  and  through. 
Mr.  Dougherty  has  twenty  native  communicants ;  at  two  other 
places  there  are  sixteen ;  and  among  the  Choctaws,  the  Presby- 
terian church  (though  under  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.)  has  264  native 
members.      Where    is    there    more    success,    proportionally  ? 
Dickens's  Christmas  story  is  paltry ;    though  one  of  its  puns 
showed  me  how  the  English  pronounce  "  3Ia  ;  "  though  I  might 
have  inferred  it  from  the  concurrence  of  New  England  and  Vir- 
ginia.    Pittsburg  is  unfortunate  in  fires,  and  New  Orleans  in 
pestilences.     I  hear  every  day  of  merchants  and  people  of  that 
class  having  died  of  the  epidemic  in  New  Orleans.     The  New 
Haven  road  is  now  open  ;  passage  in  two  hours,  fine  cars  ;  next 
thing  will  be  Albany.     Already  we  go  on  rails  (Erie  Railway) 
about  200  miles.     Our  markets  show  it.     Venison  is  a  drug. 
For  the  cuisine  rechercMe^  nothing  will  do  but  prairie-hens  from 
Illinois,  $2  a  pair,  which  is  as  low  as  canvass-backs ;  as  Juve- 
nal says  :  "  Instruit  ergo  focum  provincia." — Sat.  v.     I  visit  old 
Mr.  Gallatin,  in  his  bed.     It  is  a  treat  to  have  his  reminiscences 
of  our  greatest  men,  all  of  them.     On  such  topics  his  powers 
are  unbroken,  and  he  is  equal  to  anybody  I  ever  heard,  for  never 
hesitating,  and  always  hitting  just  the  word,  with  a  curiosa  feli- 
citas.     He  professes  firm  belief  in  Christianity,  and  I  understand 
him  now  to  admit  the  divinity  of  Christ.     He  thinks  ^Madison 
the  greatest  argumentative  parliamentarian  we  ever  had  ;  I  have 
heard  that  Marshall  had  the  same  opinion.     It  just  occurs  to  me, 
that  in  his  earlier  life  Madison  used  to  have   family-worship. 
Afterwards  his  religion  assumed  a  Washingtonian  invisibility. 
My  New  Year's  text,  and  motto,  is :  "  Hope  thou  in  God."     The 
condition  of  our  vicious  poor  is  very  dreadfid.     When  I  think 


92      WHILE   PASTOR   OF  DUANE   ST.  CHURCH,   NEW  YORK. 

of  the  hunger  and  nakedness  of  some,  I  cannot  lie  do^Yn  in  my 
Avarm  bed,  without  a  feeling  akin  to  shame.  Contrary  to  my 
expectations,  a  good  many  of  my  young  men  are  away  in  winter, 
on  commercial  travels  ;  it  is  the  only  season  in  which  they  dare 
traverse  the  Western  States. 

New  York,  February  1,  1849. 

I  saw  an  advertisement  which  says  :  "  A  quill-pen  begins  a 
letter  like  a  pen,  continues  it  like  a  pin,  and  ends  it  like  a  shav- 
ing-brush." The  respectability  of  the  people  going  to  California 
is  very  marked.  Among  those  known  to  me,  many  are  educated, 
and  many  are  religious.  One  party  of  a  hundred  has  included 
Sabbath  observance  in  their  indentures.  One  ship  known  to  me 
is  to  have  daily  worship.  Having  long  believed  colonies  to  be 
the  best  missions,  I  see  in  this  a  most  hopeful  means  for  spread- 
ing the  gospel.  California  churches  can  send  missions  with  ease 
to^China,  Japan,  and  Polynesia.  The  great  proportion  of  north- 
ern men  going  thither,  will  be  favourable  to  the  preserving  of 
our  Union.  jNliss  Martineau  comes  out  Pantheist,  in  her  reada- 
ble book  on  Palestine.  The  pull  and  vexation  of  these  numerous 
charitable  collections  upon  us  is  dreadful,  and  injurious,  I  feel 
sure,  to  the  growth  of  our  congregations.  No  other  sect  is  so 
harassed,  and  no  other  ministers  so  "  serve  tables."  Look  at  an 
able  article  on  Immigration  (statistical)  in  the  American  Almanac 
for  1849.  The  "  German  Messenger"  of  the  Tract  Society  is 
edited  by  an  excellent  German,  Mr.  Rauschenbusch.  There  is 
also  here  a  Mr.  Ungewitter,  a  friend  of  Hengstenberg,  and  some- 
time editor  of  a  loyalist  journal  in  Berlin,  but  driven  away  by  the 
Republican  movement.  The  German  method  of  singing  is  the 
true  one,  in  these  respects :  1.  The  harmony  is  confined  to  the 
organ.  2.  The  choir,  which  is  small,  sings  the  air.  3.  They  intro- 
duce no  new  tunes.  4.  The  chorals,  which  they  sing,  (Old  Hun- 
dred being  one,)  are  slow  and  familiar.  5.  Consequently  the 
people  all  sing  ;  and  all  sing  the  air,  except  as  individual  fancy 
may  vary  to  suit  the  voice. 

I  have  read  Miss s'  tale,  and  think  it  wonderful ;  but  I 

know,  by  previous  trials,  that  our  booksellers  would  do  nothing 
with  it. "  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  knowledge  of  religion 
evinced,  and  with  the  absence  of  all  turgid  language.  Except 
"  resurrection-morn,"  in  the  last  sentence,  I  do  not  remember  a 
young-ladyism.  Would  that  Bishop  Doane  could  see  it,  before 
again  he  prints  a  sermon !  I  am  surprised  your  Lutheran 
knows  nothing  of  Old  Hundred.  I  have  it  before  me  in  two 
German  collections,  where  it  is  referred  to  two  other  books,  of 
date  1666  and  1772.     The  ascription  of  it  to  Luther  is  no  doubt 


1844—1849.  i>3 


&> 


mythic.  The  more  pious  divines  (pietists)  in  Wurtemburg, 
look  on  the  democratic  uproars  as  "  Anti-Christ ;"  and  expect  a 
speedy  intervention  of  God,  by  'xp-pKT^jia.ra  and  miracle. 

Inauguration-DAT  of  Zachary  Taylor,  March  5,  1849. 
There  is  something  pleasing  in  the  chase  of  a  text  throus^h 
several  versions.  I  have  just  been  looking  at  that  delightful  but 
obscure  one,  Eph.  iv.  IG.  The  phrase  8ca  Tracrr;?  a<j!)^s  r^s  l-m- 
XopT/ytas,  is  thus  given :  1.  Eng.  Auth.  Vers.,  "  by  that  which  every 
joint  supplieth."  2.  Geneva,  "  in  every  joynt,  wherwith  one 
ministreth  to  another."  3.  Tyndale,  "  in  every  ioynt  wherwith 
one  ministreth  to  another."  4.  Cranmer,  "joynt  wherwith  one 
ministreth  to  another."  5.  Vulgate,  "per  omnem  juncturam 
subministrationis."  6.  Rheims,  "  by  al  iuncture  of  subministra- 
tion."  7.  Wicklif,  "  bi  eche  ioynture  of  undir  seruying."  (These 
last  are  just  the  Vulgate  transferred.)  Robinson,  in  Lexicon, 
renders,  "  by  all  the  joints  of  supply."  This  is  just  the  force  of 
the  (8)  Dutch,  "  door  alle  vsegselen  der  toebreuginge,"  and  (9) 
the  old  French,  "par  toutes  les  jointures  du  fournissement." 
Luther  (10)  has  "  durch  alle  Gelenke ;  dadurch  eins  dem  andern 
Handreichung  thut,"  (which  is  very  like  the  English;)  and  (11) 
deWette,  "  durch  allerlei  Gelenke  der  Handreicliung,"  which  is  very 
exact,  I  think,  namely,  "by  every-kind-of  joint  of  (hand-reaching) 
supply-help."  I  do  not  think  our  version  here  maintains  its 
usual  superiority.  Before  leaving  this  matter,  I  must  copy  a 
sample  of  Wiclif 's  literal  following  of  the  Vulgate,  in  2  Cor.  i. 
17—19: 

"  Ether  the  thingis  that  I  thenke,  T  thenkc  aftir  the  fleische,  that  at  me, 
be  it  is  &  it  is  not,  but  god  is  trewe,  for  our  word  that  was  at  you  is  &  is 
not,  is  not  therinne,  but  is  in  it,  for  whi  ihesus  crist  the  sone  of  god,  which 
is  prechid  among  you  bi  us,  by  me  &  siluan  and  tymothe,  ther  was  not  in 
him  is  &  is  not :  but  is  was  in  him,"  &c. 

All  this  arises  from  the  singular  fact  that  the  Romans  had 
no  word  for  Yes,  and  had  to  use  Est,  Ita,  Immo,  ]\Iaxime. 
This  perpetual  moving  is  a  plague  to  a  family  situated  as 
mine  is.  The  house  I  occupy  has  just  been  sold  over  my  head, 
and  the  new  landlord  raises  the  rent  from  $700  to  1800.  My 
congregation  is  going  down,  by  going  up  (town).  We  dismiss 
two  for  one  we  receive.  Though  the  house  continues  full,  it  is 
of  transient  people  ;  no  pews  are  sold,  though  all  are  hired  for 
short  terms.  About  nine-tenths  of  the  property-holders  want  to 
sell  and  go  up  town ;  they  would  do  so  in  a  moment  if  I  should 
say  the  word ;  and  with  every  probability  of  a  new  and  full 
church  there :  but  that  word  I  dare  not  say,  nor  have  ever  given 
any  countenance  to  the  proposal.     Two  of  my  elders  move  up- 


91      WHILE   PASTOR   OF   DUA^E    ST.   CHUKCHj   NEW  YOEK. 

town  in  May.  If  you  want  a  colleague  you  had  better  strike' 
while  the  iron  is  hot,  and  call  me  now.  Addison  has  a  Com- 
ment on  the  Psalms  going  through  the  press;  popular;  no 
strange  tongues.  I  have  not  lately  met  with  a  remark  more  ex- 
actly ^suiting  me  than  the  following  of  W.  S.  Landor,  respecting 
Southey  :  "  no  prose  w^riter,  except  Cobbett  and  Sydney  Smith, 
has  written  such  pure  English."  No  week  passes  without  some 
one  going  from  our  congregation  to  California,  almost  all  very 
respectable  persons.  I  am  sorry  to  perceive  that  the  cholera  is 
increasing  at  New  Orleans  and  on  the  plantations. 

New  York,  3farc7i  19,  1849. 

Addison  is  certainly  printing  on  Psalms :  I  am  glad  of  it,  as 
no  book  is  more  needed.  Poor  Ebenezer  Mason  was  buried  yester- 
day, in  a  vault  to  which  his  father's  remains  [Dr.  John  M. 
Mason]  had  been  conveyed  the  day  before.  Violent  sudden 
rheumatism.  Duncan  of  Baltimore,  on  his  way  to  the  funeral, 
was  paralyzed  in  a  coach  from  our  wharf,  and  lies  ill,  but  better. 
My  house  is  sold  over  my  head,  and  also  rented,  and  I  am  as 
yet  houseless.  The  kind  of  house  I  need  cannot  be  had,  but  for 
such  sums  as  ^800,  $900,  and  even  |1,000.  Atkinson  (when  a 
lawyer)  was  a  particular  friend  of  mine ;  he  was  an  uncommonly 
amial)le  man.'  I  do  not  expect  to  lose  fewer  than  twenty  fami- 
lies from  my  church  by  the  1st  of  May.  I  went  yesterday  to 
see  the  man  from  whom  my  child  took  the  varioloid  ;  he  has  had 
the  most  dreadful  form  of  confluent  small-pox.  The  mask  on  his 
face  was  half-an-inch  thick,  so  that  he  cut  it  off  with  a  knife.  I 
am  glad  to  see  the  Bostonians  have  printed  Macaulay  without 
the  "  oflense,"  "  chimist,"  "  traveler,"  "  highth,"  and  "  luster." 
There  is  a  third  impression  for  twenty-five  cents.  I  continue  to 
see  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  talk  to  him  on  divine  things.  Even  at  his 
almost  hopeless  age,  he  seems  to  make  some  progress  ;  disavows 
deism  ;  disavows  Unitarianism ;  speaks  of  relying  on  the  merits 
of  Christ  alone ;  on  being  saved  by  faith ;  and  on  the  last  occa- 
sion used  these  words,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  "  My  love  to  my 
redeeming  God."  But  his  mind  loses  its  thread  instantly  if  you 
oppose  any  thing  he  is  saying.  A  pleasant  boy  of  my  church 
suffered  amputation  of  the  leg,  last  week,  for  the  second  time  in 
six  years :  in  the  last  instance  he  was  entirely  insensible,  under 
chloroform. 

New  York  April  24,  1849. 

I  thought  you  would  be  pleased  with  [Life  of  Dr.]  Channing ; 
The  book  did  me  much  good.     How  refreshing  to  find  a  man 

^  The  Rev.  William  M.  Atkinson,  D.D.,  died  February  24,  1849. 


1844—18.1:9.  95 

who  is  in  earnest  about  something.  I  make  great  distinction  be- 
tween Channing  and  his  biographer :  who  knows  how  far  the 
suppressio  has  gone  ?  My  taste  increases  for  books  which  flow 
straight  on,  as  from  an  inner  source ;  little  erudition,  no  quota- 
tion, no  heads  or  divisions,  growing,  swelling,  &c. :  not  the  less, 
because  I  am  individually  of  the  opposite  sort,  and  tend  to  mince 
things  up,  and  put  them  into  patty-pans,  with  numbers.  I  got  a 
shove  for  weeks  from  reading  "  Foster's  Estimate  of  E.  Hail,  as 
a  Preacher."  Don't  fail  to  read  it,  especially  what  he  says  about 
Hall's  faults.  John  Howe  is  the  only  Puritan  writer  of  the  sort 
I  mean.  Addison,  in  one  or  two  of  his  best  sermons,  exemplifies 
my  meaning.  The  year's  pew-letting  (how  I  hate  it !)  has  re- 
sulted in  the  taking  of  as  many  seats  as  at  any  time  before :  it  is 
with  peculiar  pleasure  that  I  see  the  galleries  filling  up.  Coque- 
rel  has  an  answer  to  Strauss,  which  (Unitarian  though  he  be)  con- 
tains some  fine  suggestions  about  the  life  of  Christ.  •  Mr.  Galla- 
tin joins  in  the  prayers,  which  I  offer  by  his  bed-side,  with  a  fer- 
vour and  tenderness  which  fill  me  with  wonder  :  I  certainly  never 
saw  a  human  face  more  radiant  with  emotion.  I  wonder  if  every 
other  Presbyterian  minister  in  New  York  feels  (in  secret)  the 
same  want  of  brotherly  support  and  communion  that  I  do. 
Four  distinct  times  I  have  essayed  a  weekly  ministerial  meeting, 
chiefly  for  prayer.  All  other  sects  but  ours,  I  believe,  maintain 
such  a  service  here.^  The  Diisseldorf  collection  of  paintings,  by 
great  modern  Germans,  strikes  me  as  surpassing  any  collection 
I  ever  saw.  Ensingmuller  (?)  has  a  picture  in  the  Academy, 
"  Christ  and  his  Church,"  from  Solomon's  Song  :  but  oh,  the 
amatoriousness  of  it,  when  painted,  is  fearful !  It  is  the  most 
gorgeous,  furnace-like  piece  of  colouring  I  ever  beheld,  and  yet 
has  originality  and  merit.  I  am  greatly  struck  with  Ezek.  xxxv. 
10,  as  a  text :  "  whereas  Jehovah  was  there :"  it  had  escaped  me 
till  now. 

New  York,  May  8,  1849. 
Our  new  house  [10  Beach  street]  is  an  oddity.  It  is  bulging 
in  front,  deep  in  the  basement,  and  high  like  a  tower.  I  cannot 
account  for  it,  but  I  never  was  in  a  house  from  which  you  could 
look  down  on  so  many  others.  From  our  attic  we  can  count 
most  of  the  city  steeples.  From  my  study  I  behold  Trinity,  St. 
Paul's,  St.  Gardiner's,  St.  McLauren's,  St.  Hardenburg's,  the 
Hospital ;  and  from  every  front  window  St.  John's  tower  and 
dial.  A  tall  liberty-pole,  both  front  and  rear,  with  conspicuous 
vane.  Though  not  precisely  on  St.  John's  Park,  we  are  in  view, 
and  have  sight  of  the  jet  d'eau.     For  the  sake  of  having  a  bath- 

^  A  meeting  of  tliis  kind  was  afterwards  establislicd. 


96      WHILE  PASTOE  OF  DUAK^E   ST.  CHUECH,  NEW  TOEK. 


room,  with  hot  and  cold,  and  shower,  we  have  even  consented  to 
have  plumbers  and  id  genus  in  our  kitchen  for  a  week,  and 
have  not  yet  cooked  a  dinner  at  home.  My  study  is  in  a  chaotic 
state.  Our  yard  is  smaller  than  before.  We  have  two  good 
trees  at  the  door,  a  wide  street,  free  sweep  of  winds,  no  neigh- 
bour on  the  west,  and  exemption  from  all  objects  of  nuisant 
aspect.  It  has  been  a  soaking  time  for  the  anni verse,  (qu. :  "  any- 
fuss-eries "  ?)  the  Board  of  (Foreign)  Missions  yesterday  and  to- 
day :  several  hours  of  debate  about  appointing  a  general  agent ; 
postponed  till  June.     I  was  glad  to  hear  from  the  Rev.  Dr. 

J (indirectly)  that  you  are  the  author  of  the  "  Letters  to  a 

Young  Minister."^  They  do  you  credit.  Go  on,  my  dear 
brother,  to  rear  the  tender  youth ! 

New  York,  May  21,  1849. 
Dr.  Spring  goes  to  Assembly  after  all,  by  the  illness  of 
Greenleaf,  (green  leaves  have  generally  followed  Spring.) 
What  a  time  of  disasters  !  Crevasse  at  New  Orleans ;  cholera 
and  conflagration  at  St.  Louis ;  loss  of  steamboat  Empire ;  riots 
and  cholera  here.  There  is  little  disposition  among  us  to  turn 
this  to  a  religious  account,  as  our  fathers  used  to  do.  The  true 
state  of  the  case  as  to  our  mob  [Astor-Place  Opera  House]  is, 
that  it  was  crushed  by  one  timely,  though  afflictive  blow,  instead 
of  being  left  to  dribble  on  year  after  year  :  it  is  the  first  street- 
disturbance  since  I  have  been  here.  I  saw  and  heard  no  sign  of 
it ;  all  my  information  being  from  the  papers.  Eauschenbusch 
(a  rough  but  devoted  and  Luther-like  man)  is  going  back  to  the 
West.  He  says  the  revolutions  have  driven  to  America  great 
numbers  of  royalists  and  religious  scholars.  The  average  num- 
ber of  sick  Germans  in  the  Staten  Island  Emigrant  Hospital  is 
seven  hundred.  Eor  these  there  is  no  Protestant  chaplaincy ; 
while  the  Popish  priests  and  Sisters  cf  Charity  are  constantly 
there.  A  learned  and  pious  German  of  Elberfeld,  named  Fliede- 
ner,  has  a  seminary  for  Protestant  deaconesses,  to  do  the  same 
work  in  hospitals  that  the  Soeiirs  do.  He  has  trained  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  some  of  wealth  and  rank.  He  is  to  be  here  in 
July,  and  I  have  the  promise  of  being  made  acquainted  with  him. 
Whether  feasible  or  not,  the  scheme  is  beautiful  and  gospel-like. 
New  potatoes  abound,  from  Charleston,  at  37-^cts.  the  half  peck. 
Tlie  gold  dollar  is  a  pretty  plaything ;  I  can't  think  it  will  live. 
I  am  trustee  for  three  persons  in  the  Savings  Bank.  One  of 
them,  a  servant,  has  |200  deposited  to-day.     Our  chambermaid 

^  This  was  a  series  of  articles  written  by  himself,  and  published  in  "  Tlie 
Presbyterian." 


1844:— 1849.  97 

has  $500  there.  One  of  the  ofiicers  says  a  few  days  ago  a  known 
prostitute  deposited  $1,600,  and  that  they  receive  a  great  deal 
from  strange  women.  At  my  communion  last  Sunday  five  on 
examination ;  one  on  certificate.  I  know  of  a  few  persons  inquir- 
ing. i\Ir.  GaUatin  grows  constantly  more  right-minded  in  reli- 
gion ;  this  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  includes  points  on  which 
I  never  address  him,  and  no  other  religious  person  has  access  to 
him. 

New  York,  May  31,  1849. 

Just  at  this  time,  as  you  may  suppose,  I  am  in  much  heavi- 
ness.^ Only  a  day  or  two  had  I  any  warning  of  what  was  im- 
pending, as  it  did  not  spring  from  my  Princeton  friends.  At 
this  moment  I  am  absolutely  void  of  all  information  except  the 
telegraphic  vote.  The  thing  gives  me  unspeakable  pain.  To 
you  I  will  say,  believing  you  can  understand  it,  that  any  little 
miction  of  flattery  in  the  appointment  is  instantly  more  than 
absorbed  by  the  greatness  of  the  question,  and  the  anguish  of  a 
separation  from  my  charge,  if  I  accept.  They  (with  no  syllable 
from  me)  seem  to  give  up  at  once,  and  think  I  have  no  option. 
This  I  do  not  think :  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  judgment  of  our 
highest  court  is  very  grave,  in  a  case  where  all  previous  plans 
seemed  to  fail.  There  is  no  need  of-  saying  so  to  the  public,  but 
to  hnoio  that  I  might  remain  here  would  be  a  joy  unspeakable. 
No  dreams  of  mine  respecting  the  social  happiness  of  the  pas- 
toral relation  have  foiled  to  be  realized :  in  this  I  compare  it  to 
marriage.  I  have  tried  academic  and  Princeton  life,  and  was  less 
happy.  Every  thing  makes  me  feel  solemn,  and  I  am  (not 
metaphorically,  but  literally)  sick.  All  my  ministerial  friends, 
to  a  man,  say  Go.  Seldom  have  I  more  deeply  felt  my  utter 
insignificance — the  blindness  of  fellow-creatures,  who  from  some 
view  of  outside  think  me  of  any  value  in  such  a  matter — and  the 
unimportance  of  the  question,  in  all  but  a  religious  and  eternal 
view.     Life  is  very  short :  Dirigat  Deus  ! 

I  have  just  purchased  for  the  College  a  collection  of  ancient 
Greek  and  Roman  medals,  imitated  perfectly  in  a  composition  of 

^  In  the  General  Assembly,  at  Pittsburg,  May  21,  1849,  the  Report  of 
the  Directors  of  the  Princeton  Seminary  was  received,  in  which  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  venerable  Professor  Miller,  on  account  of  bodily  infirm- 
ities, wished  to  resign  his  office.  The  Assembly  resolved  to  continue  Dr. 
Miller's  connexion  with  the  institution,  under  the  title  of  Emeritus  Pro- 
fessor, with  its  salary  and  all  other  rights  during  his  life,  and  to  elect  a  new 
professor  for  the  active  duties  of  instruction.  On  the  26th  May,  the  As- 
sembly proceeded  to  the  election,  and  Dr.  Alexander  received  a  majority 
of  the  votes.  The  professorship  was  that  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and 
Church  Government.     Dr.  Miller  survived  until  January  7,  1850. 

VOL.  II. 5 


98      WHILE   PASTOK   OF   DTJANE   ST.   CHTJKCH,   NEW  YOEK. 

sulphur,  as  to  colour,  detrition,  &c.  Tliey  are  chronological- 
ly arranged  in  twenty-two  boxes,  each  having  six  cassettes. 
Thev  number  6,089.  "^They  were  made  for  Lord  Vernon,  by 
Odeili,  of  Rome.  A  few  alumni  of  the  College,  being  called  on, 
raised  the  money  immediately.  You  can  hardly  imagine  the 
effect  produced  on  the  imagination  by  looking  over  such  a  series, 
so  like  reality ;  seeing  the  same  emperor's  face,  going  through 
phases,  and  the  legends  in  such  Roman-looking  Roman  uncials. 
1  have  several  things  to  tell  you  about  Mr.  Gallatin,  but  coram. 
I  think  he  is  renewed  by  direct  spiritual  agency.  There  is  a 
something  which  looks  more  supernatural  than  what  I  ever 
observed.  I  want  to  propose  to  you  an  article,  which  you  have 
fticilities  for  preparing,  in  the  State  Library  :  a  Digest  of  the 
Laws  of  the  several  States  concerning  Marriage,  so  far  as  they 
respect  the  officiating  clergyman.  It  might  lead  to  excellent  re- 
sults, and  open  way  for  kindred  remarks,  &c.  In  some  States 
ministers  are  liable  in  heavy  penalties,  without  any  authority  to 
take  depositions,  or  any  protection  by  license.  In  Virginia, 
most  sensibly,  all  responsibility  is  on  the  county-clerk,  who  gives 
the  license,  after  inquiry,  oath,  &c.^ 

1  Within  a  few  weeks  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  Dr.  Alexander  de- 
clared his  acceptance  of  the  professorship,  and  removed  to  Princeton. 
Although  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  soon  after  the  opening 
of  the  session  of  the  Seminary,  his  inauguration  did  not  take  place  until 
November  20, 1819. 


CHAPTER    X. 

LETTERS  WHILE  PROFESSOR  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

1819—1851. 

Princeton,  June  14,  1849. 

My  anxious  suspense  is  so  far  relieved  that  I  have  determined 
to  remove  hither.  The  voice  of  the  Assembly  seemed  to  leave 
me  little  option,  except  in  points  of  which  they  could  not  be  cog- 
nizant. The  voice  of  my  clerical  brethren,  in  and  out  of  New 
York,  so  far  as  known  to  me,  has  been  in  favour  of  my  transla- 
tion. Jones  informs  me  that  this  is  the  unanimous  wish  in 
Philadelphia  ;  and  a  number  of  my  own  people  have  reluctantly 
ow^ned  that  they  think  it  my  duty  to  go.  I  have  been  somewhat 
moved  by  this  singular  concurrence ;  but  more  by  the  unexpect- 
ed Providence  which  has  secured  such  a  result,  by  the  frustration 
of  all  preceding  plans.  As  to  competency  I  cannot  judge  of  that. 
As  to  the  comparative  importance  of  the  two  posts,  I  have  never 
had  any  question,  that  (to  one  competent)  the  teaching-place  was 
equal  in  importance  to  any  ten  of  the  other. 

I  have  seen  clearly  that  the  Duane  Street  Church  could  live 
only  by  moving  up-town,  and  thither  I  wished  not  to  move.  I 
have  seen  as  clearly  that  my  powers  were  tasked  to  a  tension 
which  must  soon  be  fatal ;  while,  in  the  steadier  routine  of  teach- 
ing, I  might  last  a  season,  with  ordinary  favour  of  Providence. 

Do  not  be  surprised  to  see  me  on  Sunday,  but  do  not  look 
for  me.  My  going,  if  I  go,  is  merely  to  attend  on  my  father.  I 
have  been  very  much  unwell,  even  in  bed  for  a  time.  The  cause 
I  think  was  my  extreme  trouble  of  mind  about  removal. 

Princeton,  June  30,  1849. 
Again  our  relation  is  changed,  and  you  are  once  more  the  city, 
and  I  the  country  mouse.     President  Bonaparte  seems  to  be  con- 


100    WHILE   PROFESSOE   IN   THE   THEOLOGICAL   SEMLN^AEY. 

tradicting  all  previous  beliefs  of  his  imbecility  :  tliey  say  he 
managed  the  late  emeute  admirably.  You  see  Bajyiist  W.  Noel 
has  become  an  anabaptist.  I  am  in  the  thick  of  painting,  seour- 
ing,  mending,  whitening,  &c.,  and  have  not  yet  got  in  any 
of  my  furniture.  I  have  never  read  such  personality  and  scur- 
rility in  ecclesiastical  debate  in  the  United  States,  as  in  the  two 
Scotch  Assemblies.  In  the  Established  Church  they  debated 
three  hours  about  the  two  nominees  for  Moderator,  Bell  and 
Simpson;  with  very  unbecoming  opprobrium  on  both.  Nobody 
seems  to  know  any  thing  of  Bannerman,  who  succeeds  Dr.  Chal- 
mers ;  he  may  be  none  the  worse  for  that.  Addison  (pro  more) 
has  moved  again,  and  has  chambers  in  the  Seminary,  lowest 
floor,  front,  next  to  Dr.  Hodge's. 


Princetox,  July  19,  1849. 
Paint,  paint !  Hammer,  Plammer  !  Still  in  transitu.  When 
a  house  has  had  no  regular  inhabitant  for  four  or  five  years,  it  is 
wonderful  how  many  things  get  awry  ;  locks,  keys,  grates,  pot- 
hooks, pins,  bolts,  panes,  drawers,  knobs,  ceilings,  floors,  steps, 
spouts,  shingles,  gates,  hinges,  coops,  well-buckets,  volunteer 
trees,  weeds,  &c.  We  have  not  got  in  yet ;  though  I  write  in 
my  quondam  study.  I  will  give  you  two  hundred  young  paper- 
mulberry  trees,  now  growing  in  my  grounds,  on  condition  you 
take  away  the  parent  dittos.  An  excellent,  pious  cook,  whom 
we  left  in  New  York,  has  had  the  cholera;  a  girl  of  whom  I 
made  a  little  jourchase  of  mint  lozenges  the  other  day,  has  since 
died  of  the  same.  Mrs.  S.  (New  York)  was  taken  with  formida- 
ble symptoms,  including  marble-coldness,  sinking,  and  nausea, 
on  Sunday  night.  Dr.  Beatty  of  Ohio,  who  is  here,  encountered 
cases  everywhere  on  the  canal.  In  an  upland  village  near  him, 
the  Rev.  John  K.  Cunningham,  one  of  our  alumni,  has  lost  his 

wife,  and  seven  or  eight  valuable  members  of  his  church.     

is  a  good-natured  fellow,  and  I  think  may  be  led  into  ways  of  much 
more  usefulness  than  he  has.  When  I  see  how  he  has  gained  in 
a  year  or  two,  I  have  hopes  he  may  get  over  even  his  desire 
digito  monstrarier.  In  Princeton  College,  I  am  certain,  a  boy 
will  be  better  taught,  more  developed,  and  made  a  man  of,  than 
in  a  city  college.  True,  he  will  be  more  endangered  ;  but,  after 
all,  strength  cannot  come  but  by  some  peril.  I  have  scarcely 
ever  known  a  studious  boy  injured  in  college ;  never  one  who 
added  good  habits  and  dutifulness,  on  entrance.  Though  I  own 
my  parental  apprehensions  would  forbid  me  to  do  it,  I  soberly 
think  our  sons  would  gain  most,  by  going  through  the  entire 
college-trials,  commons  and  all. 


18tl:9— 1851.  101 

Princeton,  August  11,  1849. 
The  only  critical  case  among  the  car-wrecked  people,^  is  that 
of  Walters.  IVIr.  Schenck,  Dr.  Maclean,  and  Dr.  Hodge  have 
been  daily  with  the  afflicted.  Three  of  them  have  chiefly  fallen 
under  my  notice ;  one  of  these  is  a  black  woman,  a  seemingly 
pious  Baptist.  Another,  dreadfully  hurt  in  the  legs — wounds 
a  hand's  breadth  deep,  with  iron  screw  in  bottom  of  one — 
is  a  good-looking  German  tanner,  from  Magdeburg.  He  cannot 
speak  a  w^ord  of  English.  This  morning  it  occurred  to  me  to 
quote  the  beginning  of  the  Hymn,  "  O  Haupt  voll  Blut  und 
Wunden  ;"  he  immediately  repeated  the  whole  fourteen  stanzas 
of  eight  lines  each ;  it  was  evidently  to  him  an  act  of  devotion. 
He  also  repeated  two  other  long  hymns,  highly  evangelical,  but 
new  to  me.  What  an  instance  of  the  good  of  hymns  got  by 
heart !  Next  to  him  lies  a  New  York  Yankee,  w^ho  perhaps  does 
not  know  one,  though  the  more  intelligent,  and  possibly  the 
more  pious  of  the  two.  The  Company  spare  no  pains  :  indeed 
no  pains  or  price  can  neutralize  the  effect  of  the  testimony  before 
the  coroner.  Our  lives  have  all  been  at  the  mercy  of  a  switch- 
tender,  who  may  be  miles  away.  I  think  it  a  kindly  Providence 
that  the  sufl^erers  are  where  they  can  receive  so  much  soothing 
and  useful  truth.  I  preached  to  a  fine  congregation  on  Fast  Day, 
at  Blawenburg,  and  to  Africans  on  Sunday.  I  desire  not  to  be 
away  for  more  than  a  night,  till  I  can  get  through  my  heavy 
preparations.  After  I  am  a  week  or  two  w^arm  in  the  saddle,  I 
will  gladly  give  you  one,  two,  or  three  Sundays.  Mr.  de  San- 
dran,  the  French  master,  died  this  morning  from  apoplexy. 
Though  somewhat  settled,  our  painters  have  left  us  with  a  num- 
ber of  window-shutters  off,  front-door  barricaded,  and  stairs  un- 
carpeted.  We  took  in  half  a  hogshead  of  water,  which  entered 
loft,  attic,  and  guest-chamber.  Chancellor,  Bishop,  and  Dr. 
Johns  have  each  a  son  in  College.  Accession  about  50.  Prof. 
Loomis  is  recalled  to  University,  New  York  city.  I  fear  we 
none  of  us  feel  duly  our  exemption  from  the  plague,  (cholera.) 
What  a  difference  between  Trenton  and  Brunswick  !  By  avoid- 
ing all  aperient  fruits  and  vegetables,  I  have,  since  coming  here, 
enjoyed  (what  I  never  had  before  in  July)  a  perfect  regularity  of 
health.  Still  I  look  on  the  cholera  very  much  as  I  do  on  a  stroke 
of  lightning,  and  have  no  notion  of  charging  every  one  who  has 
it  with  imprudence.  Two  deaths  of  it  on  Sourlancl  Mountain,  in 
a  high,  airy,  secluded  nook.  At  Blockley  they  tried  every  variety 
of  approved  practice;  almost  all  died.  Several  very  near  neigh- 
bours of  ours  in  New  York  have  been  carried  off  by  it,  including 
two  physicians,  and  three  in  the  fomily  of  one  of  them. 

*  An  accident  on  the  railway  near  Princeton. 


102    WHILE  rEOFESSOE.m  THE   THEOLOGICAL  SEMmAHT. 

Princeton,  Aiigust  28,  1849. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  applied  myself  more  constantly  or 
closely  than  fur  two  months  past.  On  the  30th  our  duties  be- 
gin. The  next  two  Sabbaths  I  expect  to  preach  in  Duane  street. 
For  some  time  past  Mr.  Gallatin  was  unable  to  see  me,  or  even 
hear  my  name.  Just  before  his  death  his  exercises  were  as  fol- 
lows :  "  He  has  been  at  the  point  of  death,  and  his  situation  is 
still  very  critical.  During  his  extremest  illness  he  had  the  most 
blessed  assurance  of  acceptance  and  salvation  through  Christ,  re- 
peatedly praising  and  thanking  God  for  his  mercies  and  good- 
ness, in  that  he  should  have  been  made  a  partaker  of  this  salva- 
tion, as  he  expressed  himself  continually.  The  God-Man  still  a 
mystery  to  him,  but  (no  longer  doubted)  fully  believed  and  re- 
ceived. Tor  one  hour  heaven  was  opened  unto  him,  and  he 
appeared  on  the  threshold  of  Eternity ;  but  it  pleased  God  to 
bring  him  again  to  earth,  with  shattered  frame  and  intellect,  &c." 

I  own  no  copy  of  Doddridge  but  the  one  volume  one.  By- 
the-bye,  I  have  got  more  good  from  that  book  than  from  any 
commentator.  There  ought  to  be  a  new  edition  with  modernized 
references ;  nobody  knows  the  numerous  dissenting  authors 
whom  he  cites  in  the  notes.  Addison  has  saddled  himself  with  a 
tremendous  job  in  his  book  on  Psalms,  but  his  working-power  ex- 
ceeds any  thing  I  ever  dreamt  of.  I  hope  you  see  Copperfield, 
[Dickens'  Tale ;]  it  is  delightful  and  useful.  I  wish  you  had 
been  here  to  meet  the  Rev.  Theodore  Fliedner,  of  Prussia,  who 
has  been  at  Dr.  Hodge's.  For  thirteen  years,  besides  being  a 
pastor,  he  has  been  training  Christian  nurses,  (sceurs  de  charite,) 
or,  "  Evangelical  deaconesses,"  of  whom  he  and  his  wife  have 
trained  a  hundred  and  fifty.  He  has  been  making  a  flying 
visit  to  the  United  States,  to  set  up  four  of  his  deaconesses  at 
Pittsburg.  They  are  under  no  vows,  but  engage  to  serve  five 
years.  I  have  his  reports.  Among  his  subscribers  are  all  the 
royal  and  princely  names  of  Prussia,  and  all  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities.  He  is  a  most  earnest,  one-idead  man,  full  of  the 
tenderness  gendered  by  such  pursuits.  Some  of  his  remarks  in 
conversation  abridged :  '•  You  Americans  far  surpass  us  in  some 
things,  especially  in  j^ractical  tact ;  but  O,  what  a  want  of  ten- 
derness and  heart !  O,  what  singing  in  the  churches ;  not 
half  singing ;  and  some  schools  where  no  singing  is  taught ! 
Your  American  church  is  a  good  father,  but  it  is  not  a  mother ; 
it  lacks  the  mother-love  to  the  poor,  and  sick,  and  prisoner. 
This  you  leave  to  Free  Masons,  Odd  Fellows,  and  Sons  of  Tem- 
perance. Your  young  ministers  are  not  trained  at  bedsides,  and 
in  gaols ;  the  best  training.  Are  the  difliculties  greater  for  you 
than  for  Papists  ?     Surely,  there  are  maiden  ladies  in  America 


1849—1851.  103 

who  would  love  to  nurse  Christ  in  his  sick  members."  He  pub- 
lishes a  Magazine  for  the  Poor  and  Sick,  and  for  those  who 
attend  them.  I  have  it.  They  have  been  especially  useful  in 
the  Magdalen  cause,  (as  it  is  calumniously  called.)  I  don't  think 
I  shall  ever  lose  the  impression  of  his  gentleness  and  energy. 
If  I  hear  of  his  coming  here,  in  time,  I  will  send  for  you,  and  you 
must  come,  if  only  for  an  hour. 

Princeton,  September  13,  1849. 
Since  I  wrote  last,  I  have  passed  through  a  thicket  of  thoughts 
and  cares,  though  I  have  been  blessed  with  unusual  health.  My 
new  business  involves  more  pressing  study  than  I  had  thought ; 
and  in  a  new  habitation  there  are  daily  wants  emergent  which 
take  time  and  money.  Then  the  pleasing-painful  care  of  other 
peoples'  cares  has  been  daily.  I  am  glad  you  have  escaped  the 
model  of  the  Pantheon,  as  all  un-hellenistic  people  call  it,  even 
in  verse.  See  Pope  to  the  contrary.  My  inauguration  is  to  be 
on  the  20th  of  November :  at  which  time  you  will  appear  at  bed 
and  board.  Phillips  and  Plumer  induct,  by  charge  and  sermon. 
"  0  Mother  dear  Jerusalem,"  is  a  famous  Scotch  hymn  or  ballad, 
by  Dickson  of  the  17th  century.  I  cannot  lay  my  hands  on  it: 
it  is  very  long,  and  is  the  mother  dear  of  "  Jerusalem  my  Happy 
Home."  The  least  of  my  doubts  concerning  Fliedner  is  on  the 
point  you  mention :  I  think  it  clear  that  there  were  deaconesses 
of  old.  Look  at  1  Tim.  iii.  11,  of  which  the  whole  force  is  lost  in 
our  version :  ywat/ca?  does  not  mean  their  luives  (why  should 
the  qualifications  of  wives  of  deacons  and  of  no  other  officers  be 
named  f)  but  the  females,  i.  e.  the  deaconesses.  Just  look  at  this 
in  the  whole  connexion.  I  am  afraid  you  will  find  the  chronology 
of  our  Lord's  doctrines  second  in  perplexity  only  to  the  preces- 
sion of  the  equinoxes.  My  poor  congregation  in  New  York  is  in 
a  bad  way.  The  two  or  three  old-hunkers,  who  can't  see  that  the 
earth  has  gone  round  any  since  Dr.  Romeyn's  day,  would  never 
believe  (what  is  undeniable)  that  the  Church  cannot  be  maintain- 
ed where  it  is,  except  as  a  free  church.  This  I  perceived  two 
years  ago,  and  discovered  six  months  ago  that  five-sixths  of  the 
people  were  ready  to  move.  But  the  plan  was  quashed  by  the 
conservatives,  and  I  fear  they  will  be  left  alone,  unless  they  in 
stanter  remove.  The  house  is  almost  embedded  in  sugar-refiner- 
ies and  other  stews.  Its  real  supporters  live  far  above  it.  Drs. 
Spring  and  McElroy  will  soon  go  up,  and  the  sense  of  being  a 
preacher  to  a  fluent  crowd  was  what  chiefly  discouraged  me,  and 
hindered  my  labours.  I  say  these  things  to  them  freely  now,  be- 
cause they  cannot  charge  me  with  any  worldly  lust  of  a  better 
locale,  which  they  constructively  did  while  I  was  with  them.     I 


104:    WHILE  PEOFESSOR  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY. 

have  said  to  Mr.  Aiichincloss  that  two  years  hence  there  cannot 
by  possibility  be  a  Presbyterian  church  at  that  corner ._  They 
must  choose  between  scattering  (already  repeated  till  the  identity 
is  2one)  and  removal.  The  greater  the  man  they  get,  the  sooner 
will  he  translate  the  Church.  Lower  New  York  is  in  no  proper 
sense  other  than  as  a  ivarehouse,  compared  with  a  dwelling. 

Our  Directors  being  done  with,  do  come  on  and  bring  your 
family.  1  have  beans  and  spinach,  and  a  bushel  of  sour  grapes  ; 
and  though  beef  is  rare,  we  have  a  great  diversity  of  agnine  parts, 
such  as  neck,  breast,  loin,  kidneys,  &c.  My  dear  old  father  is  a 
little  unwell  again.  lie  will  preach  when  asked,  and  people  will 
ask  him.     Two  sermons  and  a  lecture  in  three  days  ! 

Princeton,  September  19,  p-idie  uEquinoct.,  1849. 
In  the  sore  loss  of  my  parochial  comforts,  which  were  always 
delif^htful  to  me,  in  the  net  result,  and  which  are  to  a  sincere 
man  a  sort  of  expansion  of  his  fireside  pleasures,  I  try  to  comfort 
myself  by  looking  with  new  eyes  on  my  pupils.  We  have 
matriculated  fifty-three,  and  "still  they  come."  I  am  struck 
with  the  amount  of  good  healthy  flesh  and  bone.  Nothhig  is  so 
pleasing  to  me  as  the  Sunday  conference.''  It  is  a  genuine  primi- 
tive "  prophesying."  My  dear  old  father,  whose  feebleness 
reaches  my  heart,  is  nowhere  so  felicitous.  About  half  the  young 
men  are  off  at  schools  and  meetings.  The  subjects  are  always 
practical  or  experimental.  When  you  exchange  with  me,  be  sure 
to  arrange  for  attending  this  meeting.  Of  Scots  and  Hibernians 
we  have  about  a  dozen,  several  being  Glasgow  graduates  ;  also  a 
Baptist  preacher,  and  wife,  from  Charleston.  Last  year  there 
were  five  or  six  Baptists,  all  most  promising  men.  Dr.  Miller 
is  really  too  weak  to  go  about  with  safety.  John  Miller,  after 
the  tour  of  Europe,  and  after  being  a  prisoner  for  half  a  day  in 
Rome,  seeing  the  Pope's  house  at  Gaeta,  and  lying  ill  in  Holland, 

is  on  the  return,  via  Edinburgh.     is  a  good  preacher,  a  pious 

man,  a  mast  affable,  unpretending  companion,  but  overladen  with 
extraordinary  knowledge  of  books,  beyond  proportion  to  his 
mental  powers.     That  is  a  splendid  oration  of  Victor  Hugo  at 

the  Peace  Congress.     You  have,  through ,  an  opportunity 

to  get  a  national  thanksgiving  on  account  of  the  diminution 
of  the  pestilence.  Poor  Blythe  is  still  silenced,  by  sequelae  of 
dysentery.  The  Second  Church  is  nearly  ready ;  a  snug  little 
place.  Washington  Irving,  in  his  "Goldsmith,"  has  ilhj^  and 
several  other  illiterate  expressions. 

^  A  meeting  for  devotion  and  remarks  on  topics  of  experimental  religion, 
held  by  the  professors  with  the  students  of  the  Seminary,  every  Lord's-day 
afternoon. 


18i9— 1851.  105 

Princeton,  October  4,  1849 
I  have  for  you  a  copy  of  "  O  :Motber  Dear,"  singularly 
thrown  in  my  way,  how  or  w^hence  I  know  not :  I  picked  it  up 
in  the  mire  of  the  road.  The  Mons.  Perrin  you  name  is  an  ex- 
traordinary Yiolinist ;  except  the  miraculous  Oles  and  Sivoris, 
he  heats  any  thing  I  remember.  As  to  stoves,  I  anticipated 
your  despair.     The  diversification  is  ridiculous,  like  Horace's 

Qui  Yariare  cupit  rem  prodigialiter  unam. 

I  have  stuck  an  old  second-hand  franklin  in  my  study-hearth, 
for  wood :  it  does  w^ell  enough  for  moderate  weather.  I  shall 
miss  nothing  of  New  York  so  much  as  English  coal ;  for  I  can't 

afford  to  burn  it  here.  r.  r^^    -    ■     • 

I  should  like  to  lend  you  Milman's  History  of  Christiamty, 
volume  by  volume,  for  though  it  is  written  wdth  an  almost  infidel 
coolness,  it  is  the  only  English  work  that  gives  the  distilled 
essence  of  the  Germanic  researches  into  out-of-the-way  antiquities 
of  early  mother  church.  If  I  live,  I  must  be  some  years  familiar- 
izing myself  with  the  original  documents  of  the  former  ages. 

It  Avould  be  chimerical  to  expect  the  same  watch  over  hun- 
dreds of  young  men  as  a  father  has  over  half-a-dozen ;  and  there 
must  also  be  a^period  of  transition  from  home  to  the  world,  but 
this  period  should  be  (O  how  carefully  !)  guarded.  I  should  like 
to  have  the  following  queries  discussed  in  some  journal,  concern- 
ing any  college,  or  all  colleges :  How  often  does  the  President 
appoar  in  private  chambers  1  How  many  times  in  a  year  does 
he  avail  himself  of  the  prayer-assembly,  to  make  any  fiitherly 
remarks'?  What  assurance  have  you  that  lads  are  in  their 
chambers  from  11—12  P.  M.?  Suppose  twenty  are  at  a  grog- 
hole  all  night,  w^hat  means  of  assuring  yourselves  of  tins'? 
What  limit  to  walking  all  over  the  city  or  village  on  Sunday  1 
What  superintendence  at  feeding-time,  in  those  houses  where  ten 
to  twelve  fellows  take  their  grub  separate  from  the  family '? 

Great  evils  arise  in  the  United  States  from  the  ease  with 
which  new  congregations,  churches,  and  even  sects  are  formed. 
Ex.  gr. :  suppose  a  minority  in  Smithville  choose  to  do  wrong. 
Presbytery  animadverts.  Minority  turns  on  heel ;  "  wdio  cares !  " 
Presbytery '  more  stringent.  Minority  turns  on  heel;  new 
church;  two  steeples;  tw^o  miserable  handfuls;  two  starving 
preachers ;  perhaps  one  independent  society.  There  is  no  dis- 
grace, and  little  difficulty,  in  rearing  a  new  sect.  Hence  an 
ecclesiastical  censure  is  hrutum  fulmen ;  and  hence  church  courts 
shrink  from  uttering  their  thunders.  Our  practice  is  a  century 
or  more  below  our  book  of  discipline,  in  all  courts  but  the 
highest;    and   nobody   abides   by   acts   of  General   Assembly, 

VOL.  II. 5'^ 


106    WHILE  PEOFESSOE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEmXAET. 

whether  anent  sitthig  in  prayer,  or  readhig  in  preaching.      A 
vermilion  edict. 

Ppjxcetox,  October  12,  1849. 

There  is  a  remarkable  amount  of  indisposition  in  the  Semina- 
ry, though  nobody  very  ill,  nor  prevalence  of  any  one  disease. 
At  least  ten  are  on  the  sick-list.  One  young  man  of  college,  na- 
tive of  Scotland,  lies  very  low  with  dysentery.  I  have  preached 
as  much  as  usual  ever  since  I  left  New  York,  besides  the  tough 
work  of  getting  ready  for  classes.^ 

On  reaching  Princeton,  I  had  hard  work  to  get  ready  for  my 
lecture  at  11  o'clock.  Just  as  we  Avere  sitting  down  to  dinner 
we  perceived  the  house  of  our  neighbour,  Mrs.  Armstrong,  to  be 
on  fire.  Our  gardens  join,  though  she  fronts  on  Stockton  street. 
The  wind  was  towards  us,  and  at  that  moment  very  higli. 
Providence  ordered  several  things  most  happily :  the  wind  was 
from  the  house ;  it  was  mid-day ;  Edward  Armstrong  was  in  his 
mother's  house ;  and  a  new  fire-engine  had  just  been  procured 
to  be  handselled  on  this  occasion.  Commodore  Stockton  was 
soon  on  the  roof,  with  the  face  of  a  coal-man.  Armstrong  thinks 
he  saved  the  house.  Every  thing  was  removed  from  it.  The 
chief  damage  is  the  kitchen  part,  which  is  pretty  much  unroofed. 
It  came  of  the  country  practice  of  burning  a  chimney  during  the 
heavy  rain  of  the  morning. 

Princeton,  October  15,  1849. 
I  wish  I  had  begun  early  to  mark  places  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  which  the  play  of  the  sound  is  lost  in  English.  I  note 
these  in  my  morning  lesson:  2  Cor.  iii.  5,  6,  "Not  that  we  are 
LKavoL  of  ourselves,  to  think  any  thing  ....  but  the  iKai/orT^s  is 
of  God,  who  also  cKdvoicrev  ns  ministers  of  the  New  Testament. 
O  that  we  could  English  that  glorious  passage,  2  Cor.  iv.  8,  seq. ! 
The  jingle  is  lost,  and  in  our  version  what  a  bathos,  from  change 
of  usage  in  a  word,  is  here  :  '•  We  are  troubled  on  every  side, 
yet  not  disiressed !''''  Tyndale  says,  "without  shyft."  Try  your 
hand  on  the  whole  passage,  in  translation ;  it  will  at  least  breed 
a  sermon.  The  Iv  iravTi  seems  to  qualify  all  the  series.  "  In  this 
whole  life  of  ours,  Av.e  are  pressed,  but  not  oppressed,"  (pressed 
to  death ;)  clause  out :  "  aTropov/xei/ot,  desponding,  but  not  e^a-n-o- 
povfxetoL,  despairing ;"  Wiclif  renders  viKpwa-tv,  "  si  eying,"  and 
the  Khemists,  "  mortification,"  both  actively.  I  believe  this  is 
the  only  classical  sense.     I  had  just  been  reading  with  wonder 

^  The  number  of  his  sermons  in  1844  was  91 ;  1845,  117  ;  1846,  120; 
1847,  107;  1848,  109;  1849,  80.  His  farewell  sermon  was  preached  in 
Duanc  Street,  June  10,  1849,  from  1  Cor.  iii.  21-23. 


1849—1851.  107 

Prof.  Guyot's  (Agassiz's  friend)  "  Earth  and  Man,"  when  I  this 
niorninfr  fell  in  with  him  at  Dr.  Hodge's.      Giiyot  and  Prof. 
Henry  are  busy  at  the  making  some  thousands  of,  barometers  at 
New  York,  for  government.    "He  is  a  tenderly  pious  man ;  you 
would  be  delio-hted  to  hear  such  childlike  Frencli  Christianity 
from  such  a  philosopher ;  he  is  brother-in-law  of  Grandpierre. 
"The  revolution  of  1848,  unlike   that   of  1830,  declares  wax 
against  learning  and  science ;    these  are  aristocratical.  ^  Down 
with  all  aristocracy !— of  mind— yes,  even   of  morals^     This 
avowed  by  a  very  distinguished  leader,  of  genius,  in  the  Canton 
de  Vaud :  "  Down  with  all  mentalism,  ideology  !  "     "  The  next 
generation  growing  up  in  this  sensualism."     He  thinks  the  seces- 
sion of  F.  Monod^  Bridel,  &c.,  very  wrong.     "  Result  of  break- 
ing connexion  with  state,  would  be  to  leave  at  least  half  the 
Protestant  churches  without  service ;  and  this  in  an  unchristian 
population.     Dare  we  take  the  responsibility  of  such  a  crisis  1 " 
He  thinks  we  have  no  notion  of  the  prevalence  of  atheism  among 
the  mass  in  Germany  and  Switzerland. 

I  feel  the  week's  ideologij  does  not  fit  me  bodily  for  Sunday- 
ism:  I  came  flagged  to  the  "desk:"  yesterday  two  sermons: 
this  morning  nervous.  I  did  not  leave  pastoral  life  willmgly  ;  I 
foresaw  the  very  evils  I  begin  to  feel;  but  they  distress  me 
more  than  I  reckoned  for.  I  miss  my  old  women ;  and  especial- 
ly my  weekly  catechumens,'  my  sick-rooms,  my  rapid  walks,  and 
my  nights  of  right-down  fatigue.  Prof.  Henry  is  lecturing  a 
rapid  course,  to  the  unspeakable  delight  of  the  collegians ;  his 
studies  were  always  pleasing  to  them,  though  he  was  such  a 
driller. 

Princeton,  November,  8,  1849. 
Bill  concerning  Old  Correspondents. 
"  Sec.  10.  And  be  it  enacted,  that  in  case  any  citizens  shall 
cause  it  to  appear  that  they  have  communicated,  conferred,  or 
corresponded,  by  letter  or  epistle,  for  the  term  of  thirty  years, 
the  said  citizens  shall  have  the  franking  privilege  for  the  remani- 
der  of  their  natural  lives,  etc." 

Craven  has  just  got  back  from  South  Hampton  (one  of  four 
Hamptons,  of)  Long  Island.  Strange  place!  Puritan  settle- 
ment :  scarce  altered  in  two  hundred  years :  insulated :  antique 
fashions:  1,700  parishioners :  no  church  but  Presbyterian  in  all 
the  district :  wealthy  farmers :  surface  of  ground  covered  with 

^  He  contributed  to  the  Repertory  this  year  a  paper  on  "  The  History 
of  Catechizing."  His  other  articles  in  the  vohime  of  1849  were  on  the  Jiap- 
tist  Controversy,  on  the  Family  of  Arnauld,  (as  connected  with  Jansenism 
and  Port  Royal,)  and  on  the  Autobiography  of  the  Rer.  Dr.  Ashbcl  Green. 


108    WHILE  PEOFESSOrw  IN  TIIE  THEOLOGICAL   SElVnNAET. 

rotting  sea-fish,  their  only  manure.  Every  serious  wound  leads 
to  tetanus ;  same  in  adjacent  parishes.  Five  times  as  many  at 
church  in  afternoon  as  in  morning.  Farmers  do  not  live  on 
their  farms,  but  in  hamlets :  thirteen  elders,  one  or  more  in  each 

hamlet.     In  the  village  of  S not  one  male  communicant,  but 

many  in  the  church.  All  these  have  joined  in  revivals.  Among 
their  ministers  have  been  Jonathan  Edwards,  Dr.  Buel,  and  Dr. 
Beecher.  Imperturbable  in  old  habits.  Vacant,  but  won't  ac- 
cept one  as  candidate  till  he  has  preached  for  them  three  months. 
All  their  produce  goes  to  Sag  Harbour.  These  gleanings  from 
my  father.  Dr.  Hare's  sermon,  showing  that  baptized  children 
are  church  members.  Once  it  v^'as  our  doctrine,  but  New  Eng- 
land has  conquered.  Every  now  and  then  I  hear  a  new  word 
added  to  the  college  lingo :  e.  g.  "  Half  the  Junior  class  are 
taking  privates,  {q.  d.  private  lessons,  with  a  tutor,  so  as  to  keep 
up  w'ith  Prof.  Alexander's  hard  mathematics.)  Webster's  Dic- 
tionarv,  last  edition,  has  all  the  English  University  terms,  such 
as  Little-go,  Tripos-papers,  Wrangler,  Optimes,  Corpus,  &c.  If 
you  ever  need  a  French  dictionary,  buy  the  last  and  best "  French 
and  English,  and  English  and  French  Dictionary,  &c.,  &c.,by  A 
Spiers.''  1849.  PAms.  8vo,  pp.  1331 :  $4:  bound  in  France. 
In  Boston,  Little  and  Brown.  It  is  under  the  auspices  of  Guizot, 
Villemain,  and  many  savans  and  litterateurs  in  England  and 
France.     Agreez,  Monsieur,  &c. 

Princeton,  November  1-4,  1849. 
My  mind  does  not  easily  leave  the  death-bed  scene  of  our 
dear  young  friend  Candor,'  with  whom  I  have  spent  many  hours 
of  the  last  few  days.     I  went  from  his  speechless  countenance  to 

marry ,  and  hurried  back  to  find  him  just  gone.     He  was 

ill  six  weeks,  and  never  seemed  to  me  to  suffer  much  more  in 
mind  or  body  than  you  or  I  probably  this  moment.  It  was 
a  most  natural  death-bed,  if  I  may  say  so  of  what  was  so 
gracious.  Perhaps  a  dozen  hymns  were  sung  around  him  yes- 
terday up  to  the  very  cessation  of  his  utterance  :  there  was  no 
loquacity  or  tendency  to  talk  of  his  exercises,  but  an  uncontrol- 
lable thirst  for  prayers,  hymns,  and  Scriptures.  I  preached  from 
1  Thess.  iv.  14,  on  "  sleep  in  Jesus."  His  friends  admitted  with 
surprise  that  his  fellow-students  nursed  him  with  a  skill,  devo- 
tion, and  gentleness,  that  scarcely  a  flither's  house  could  have 
aff'orded,  for  so  long  an  illness.  He  was  one  of  the  first  minds 
of  our  house,  as  formerly  of  the  college.  This  morning  Dr. 
Miller  sent  for  me,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  did  not  rise 

^  John  Montgomery  Candor,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  student  in  the  Seminary. 


1849—1851.  109 

when  I  entered.  He  then  formally  made  over  to  me  the  charge 
of  the  instruction,  and  said,  inter  alia :  "  No,  sir,  my  time  is 
come.  I  must  go  to  the  grave  ;  no  skill  of  man  can  do  me  any 
good."  He  no  longer  drives  out.  Every  exj^ression  connects 
itself  with  his  departure.  In  all  my  life  I  never  saw  a  gentler 
decline,  or  a  more  serene,  collected,  looking  into  eternity.  Our 
numerous  cases  of  illness  in  the  Seminary  have  kept  me  in  paro- 
chial service,  and  our  pot  has  been  constantly  over  the  fire  with 
beef-tea,  broth,  &c.  One  case  remains.  God  grant  that  our 
chastening  may  mend  us,  and  be  removed.  There  is  far  more 
to  reach  the  feelings  in  my  Seminary  connexion,  than  I  knew  of. 
A  woman  who  works  for  us  informs  my  wife  (but  for  which  I 
should  not  know  it)  that  a  highly  respectable  student  of  ours,  a 
fine,  cheerful  fellow,  boards  himself  at  a  widow's  house,  and  that 
he  has  had  one  piece  of  meat  in  three  weeks.  This  of  course  I 
will  not  suffer  ;  but  many  a  private  Christian  might  relieve  such 
a  case,  by  intermitting  pies  and  puddings  for  a  month.  Two 
young  men  have  had  to  go  off  to  schools. 

I  am  giving  you  a  very  grave  letter.  Sometimes  one  reads 
that  men  may  be  known  by  their  letters,  and  biographies  go  up- 
on this  jDOstulate.  Certainly  it  fails  sometimes  as  to  habitual 
moods.  J^.  g.  In  my  private  hours,  nine  out  of  ten,  I  am  grave 
even  to  a  fliult.  In  my  letters  I  am  apt  to  seek  recreation  ;  they 
are  a  sort  of  conversation.  I  never  saw  it  alluded  to,  except  by 
Boz,  (frequently  by  himj  but  the  funniest  things  that  ever  come 
to  my  tongue's  end,  are  in  seasons  of  deep  affliction,  so  that  re- 
pression is  needed,  to  save  appearances.  While  moralizing,  let 
me  add,  there  is  a  great  distinction  between  (//^'e/and  misery; 
how  often  are  we  profoundly  sorrowful,  without  being  unhappy. 
Our  adorable  Lord  was  a  "  man  of  sorrows,"  and  (beautiful !) 
'>Vn  5"T>'},  "a  (flimiliar)  brother  of  grief  f^  but  how  remote  from 
being  miserable  !  I  am  half  afraid  I  am  under  some  hallucina- 
tion, or  morbid  judgment,  but  for  several  years  I  have  sickened 
at  the  common  way  of  outcry  against  specific  amusements ;  ser- 
mons and  tracts  anent  them,  &c. :  in  one  view  all  the  meetings 
of  our  unconverted  hearers  are  frivolous ;  but  are  they  worst 
when  they  are  merriest  ?  This  is  dangerous  ground,  and  I  sus- 
pect myself;  but  my  error  is  corrigible,  and  it  surely  does  not 
grow  out  of  any  disposition  to  practise  on  the  light  flmtastic  tc  e. 
I  believe,  however,  that  sourness,  moroseness,  censoriousness, 
malice,  lust,  envy,  and  two  or  three  other  things,  may  eat  as 
doth  a  canker  in  people  who  never  danced.  The  hours  of  Inaugu- 
ration Day  are  these,  as  per  minutes  :  "  Sermon  be  preached  in 
the  church  at  half-past  2  o'clock,  and  that  the  inauguratioji  ser- 
vices take  place  in  the  church  in  the  evening."     1.  Sermon  by 


110    WHILE  TEOFESSOE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY. 

Dr.   Pliimer.     2.  Charge  by  Dr.  Phillips.      3.  Inaugural  Dis- 


course.* 


Princeton,  December^  1849. 
I  found  a  warfare  wasfino;  between  Elders  A and  B- 


as  to  whether  of  tlie  twain  should  entertain  you,  [in  New  York.] 
Mr.  A will,  however,  take  no  denial,  and  Mr.  B reluc- 
tantly yields.  You  cannot  go  to  a  more  hospitable  roof  than 
that  of  40  Barclay  street.  Prepare  to  hear  of  perfections  in 
your  humble  servant,  which  your  lack  of  acquaintance  has  kept 
you  from  knowing.  Try  to  see  the  Panorama  of  the  Nile. 
Drop  into  Garrigue's,  under  Astor  House,  and  see  German 
Annuals,  &c.  If  you  name  me  to  G or  to  Evans,  (Put- 
nam's salesman,  son  of  an  East  India  Baptist  Missionary,  and 
born  in  Sumatra,)  they  will  probably  do  me  the  flivour  of  being 
extra  polite,  as  metropolites  to  a  cosmopolite  Tridentopolite. 
Look  (at  G.'s)  at  Retszch,  Reinecke  Fuchs,  and  Outlines  of 
Thorwaldsen's  Statues.  G.  is  a  Dane,  but  speaks  every  thing. 
Dr.  Raphael  is  making  a  noise  among  the  numerous  Christians 
who  tliink  everybody  who  is  circumcised  authorized  to  expound 

the  Old  Testament.     M is  still  bedridden ;    quere  :    bed- 

riding?     The  Scotch  say  bed-/«5^. 

Kinney  [of  Newark]  lectured  here  last  evening  ;  a  most  or- 
nate, eloquent,  and  patriotic  discourse.  I  never  heard  a  better 
of  the  kind.  I  received  from  a  nameless  person  in  Duane  street 
$200  for  sick  students,  with  a  promise  to  sustain  two  poor 
students. 

Dr.  Miller  has  declined  very  gradually  even  till  now.  His 
greeting  to  my  brother  Samuel  was,  "  Almost  home."  Take  it 
altogether  I  never  knew  such  a  euthanasy.  All  the  decorum  of 
his  long  life  kept  up  "  duntaxat  ad  imum."  Never  one  intrusion 
of  doubt.  Heaven  has  seemed  just  as  much  a-jar,  as  his  next- 
door  bedroom.  Still  in  his  study,  amonf  his  life-long  things,  and 
still  in  a  sort  of  chair,  not  bed.  It  is  not  four  days  since  he 
ceased  going  to  the  table.  He  forbids  prayer  for  recovery ; 
longs  to  depart :  has  not  seemed  to  have  any  anxiety  but  about 
the  church,  for  a  long  time.  Often  has  wept,  more  than  of  old, 
on  spiritual  matters.  Greatly  revived  at  hearing  of  conversions, 
&c.     Our  year's  text  is.  Looking  unto  Jesus. 

Princeton;  January  8,  1850. 
When  I  heard  last  night.  Dr.  Miller  was  almost  gone ;  like  a 

^  The  inauguration  of  Dr.  Alexander  took  place  according  to  this  pro- 
gramme Xovember20,  18-19.  The  three  discourses  were  published  together 
by  the  Board  of  Directors.  The  subject  of  the  Professor's  inaugural  was, 
"  The  value  of  Church  History  to  the  Theologian  of  our  Day." 


1819—1851.  Ill 

sleeping  child,  but  knew  my  father.  One  of  the  boys  came  in 
as  I  had  penned  this,  to  say  that  Dr.  Miller  died  last  night  about 
11,  a  few  hours  after  my  father  saw  him  ;  without  any  struggle, 
oppression,  or  seeming  pain.  The  funeral  is  to  be  from  the 
church,  on  Thursday,  (January  10,)  at  2  o'clock.  It  has  been  a 
great  comfort  to  the  Doctor  to  have  his  medical  son  with  him  so 
many  weeks.  The  Doctor  was  in  his  81st  year.  Of  all  the 
deaths  I  ever  knew,  this  is  the  most  surrounded  by  all  the  things 
one  could  desire. 

[Rev.  David]  Trumbull  gives  me  a  volume  of  information 
about  Chili :  he  has  a  wonderful  eye  for  observation  and  power 
of  making  you  know  what  he  means  :  accost  him.  I  am  glad 
Valparaiso  has  a  man  of  so  much  shrewdness.  Some  day  get 
David  King  of  our  first  class  to  preach  for  you.  He  is  our 
Asaph,  and  is  singularly  discreet  and  grave.  ^ 

Princeton,  February  20,  1850. 

I  have  your  full  letter  from  "Washington.  You  must  have 
had  a  delightful  time  in  the  "  Federal  City,"  as  my  flither,  more 
veterum,  still  calls  it.  I  can't  help  thinking  the  responsibility  of 
the  Union  lies  just  now  on  the  North.  Garrison,  &c.,  of  course 
must  feel  bound  in  conscience  to  change  the  Constitution,  and 
abolish  slavery  ;  but  other  northern  parties  seem  to  me  to  have 
some  place  for  concession,  as  they  are  the  people  who  cry  out 
so  against  disunion.  The  impending  evil  all  seems  to  result 
from  the  provision  of  the  Californians,  a  provision  which  I  can't 
help  thinking  was  unnecessary.  Nobody  questions  the  right  of 
a  State  to  abolish  slavery.  Why  throw  such  an  apple  of  gold 
into  the  race  of  Atalanta  *? 

All  the  United  States  :Missionaries  in  India  break  down,  but 
not  the  Britons.  The  Allahabad  College  teaches  as  high  branches 
as  ours.  Bishop  Wilson  says  our  men  there  are  the  most  learn- 
ed body  in  India. 

Schaif  says  a  number  of  spicy  things  in  his  January  number, 
[Mercersburg  Review.]  Among  others,  of  "  the  sad  and  hum- 
bling experiences"  of  the  Episcopalians  "  with  some  of  their 
highest  functionaries,"  in  New  Jersey,  North  Carolina,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Constantinople.     "  All  these  disturbing 

^  Mr.  King  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  remarkable  for  the  melody  of 
his  voice  in  speaking.  In  another  letter  he  is  called  "  the  sweet  singer  of 
our  Israel  David  King."  He  declined  a  call  from  the  Duane  Street  congre- 
gation in  the  spring  of  1850,  and  accepted  one  from  Jersey  City,  where  he 
was  installed.  His  health  soon  failed,  and  he  was  about  to  take  charge  ot  a 
smaller  congregation  at  Stillwater,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Troy ;  but  betore 
his  installation  he  was  removed  by  death.  May  15,  1853. 


112     WHILE  PKQFESSOE  IN   THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY. 

phenomena,  besides  their  personal  aspect,  have  a  general  signifi- 
cancy  ;  they  are  not  only  symptoms  of  a  diseased  church,  ^vhich 
is  pulled  asunder  two. opposite  ways,  never  having  been  able  to 
find  as  a  basis  that  wholesome  mean  between  Rome  and  Geneva, 
which  once  she  vaunted,  but  they  are  also  a  judgment  concerning 
all  overhasty  and  impatient  attempts  to  buttress  up  Protestant 
ism  from  without  in  a  mechanical  way.  It  is  true.  Protestantism 
is  making  uneasy  efforts  beyond  itself,  and  struggling  also  in 
other  sections,  and  other  ways,  besides  that  of  Puseyism,  towards 
a  churchly  remodelling ;  but  its  rent  garment  will  not  allow 
patching  with  a  few  rags  from  the  old-clothes-room  of  antiquity. 
New  wine  must  not  be  put  into  old  bottles,  else  the  bottles  are 
rent,  and  the  wine  lost." 

Princeton,  March  5,  1850. 

I  don't  know  on  whose  side  the  shuttlecock  has  fallen,  but  I 
have  had  my  hands  very  full  of  writing,  having  worked  along  to 
the  Reformation-period,  as  good  Mr.  Pollock  might  say.  Re- 
newed studies  of  Luther  have  made  me  admire  and  love  him 
more  than  ever.  You  will  have  heard  that  ]\Ir.  Schenck  is 
having  daily  meetings.  I  fail  to  perceive  a  very  deep  stirring 
of  the  people's  mind,  or  special  tenderness  under  the  Word ; 
but  tliirty  to  forty  have  been  to  talk  with  the  pastor,  and  a  num- 
ber are  reported  to  be  in  a  state  of  hope.  It  is  certainly  some- 
thing to  get  large  numbers  willing  to  be  approached,  and  anxious 
to  hear  truth  ;  and  I  believe  this  is  so.  My  brother  William  is 
about  to  set  up  "  the  Princeton  Magazine ;"  pp.  48,  monthly. 
Of  course  we  shall  all  help.  It  will  not  exclude  scientific,  classi- 
cal, erudite,  sportive,  or  Jersey  articles.  Probably  a  number 
out  three  weeks  hence.  "  Princeton  in  1801,"  will  open  it,  a  re- 
miniscence of  my  father.^  The  oldest  graduate,  S.  Baldwin  of 
Newark,  is  dead ;  class  of  1770.     Alexander  Hamilton  was  his 

*  Twelve  numbers  of  this  magazine  appeared  in  1850,  after  which  it  was 
discontinued.  The  brothers  James  and  Addison  made  it  the  repository  of 
many  of  their  desultory  effusions.  The  hand  of  the  former  is  seen  in  such 
subjects  as  "  Education  among  Merchants,"  "  The  Prospects  of  the  Me- 
chanic," "  The  "Working  Man's  Aim,"  "Wordsworth,"  "  Le  Pays  Latin," 
"Books  and  Business,"  "Esthetics,"  "Minor  Works  of  Dr.  Johnson," 
"  Machinery  and  Labour,"  "  The  Physiognomy  of  Houses,"  "  Letters  on  the 
Early  Latin  Writers,"  "  Eoadside  Architecture."  The  sportive  and  ironical 
wit  of  the  other  brother  is  detected  in  most  of  the  humorous  pieces  with 
which  the  magazine  abounds.  Among  these  is  the  satirical  poem  which 
soon  attracted  extensive  notice — "  The  llecoustruction  of  Society."  In  a 
letter  to  the  editor  of  these  Letters,  from  the  late  Mr.  Walsh,  (Paris,  Nov. 
12,  1850,)  that  eminent  scholar  wrote — "The  promise  of  the  youth  of  the 
brothers  Alexander  seems  to  have  been  fulfilled.  The  Magazine  abounds 
with  matter  which  I  read  with  keen  relish." 


1849—1851.  113 

scholar.     He  was  here  when  Witherspoon  came.     I  have  fallen 
into  a  hvmn-hook.correspondence  with  Dr.  pemme. 

I  Im-e  only  within  a  few  weeks  authentically  traced  up  my 

Princeton,  3Iarch  19,  1850. 
I  went  to  bed  the  night  after  I  saw  you,  and  have  not  been 
nut  of  doors  since.     Dieting  has  reduced  me  very  niuch.     Mean- 
w  ile  I  have  lost  all  but'the  report  of  the  awakening  here ; 
vh   h  is  very  remarkable  in  the  college.     Forsyth  says :     There 
is   not   a   student  in  the  whole  200+,  who  does  not  invite  or 
expect  reli'  ous  conversation."     The  best  scholars  and  the  very 
rhSead  rs'in  vice,  have  been  prostrated.     Two  of  the  -»*Sj; 
of  the  Commencement  Ball,    for  next  June,)  V'rgima  bloods, 
have  proposed  to  do  away  the  ball ;  a  nuisance  which  the  Trus- 
eihave^feared  to  abate,  and  which  for  tw^.ty  Je-s  has  town 
in  cvsn   spvpril  of   our  less  spiritual  professing  Christians,  or 
the  rAildrem     The  whole  college  ma.y  be  said  to  be  tempo- 
;  ,r  V  seekin-  God.     Many  of  these  young  men  are  the  only 
i  membei-^  of  large  connexions,  who  care  about  religion. 
In  t  is  view,  when  I  adinit  some  mistakes  and  some  excitement, 
a  great  point  is  gained  ;  a  great  amount  of  truth  is  thrown  into 
minds  of  ductile  youth ;  vice  is  silenced;  truth  is  owned ;  dis- 
Sine  is  re-established ;'  even  if  all  who  seem  to  be  coiwerted 
7e    ot  lo      But  of  all  these  things  I  have  seen  nothmg      Thirty- 
nne  ioined  fhe  Communion;   thirty  reported  converts  are  yet 
beWnd    1  the  viUace.     Schenck  [the  pastor  of  the  First  Church] 
snvs  mo  t  of  the1.w.akened  say  their  impressions  have  been  on 
SmTr  months;    this  is  usual      In  1844  Dr.  Rice  admittd 
t  irtv-eiMit  at  one  time.     These  show  as  well,  so  far  i^  I  know, 
as  She^  professors.     Two  Romish  -P«Wican  pries  s,  a  ^e^ 
politan  and  a  Genoese,  are  commg  h;«  to  stmly  &c.     1  hope 
they  will  do  better  than  previous  refugees.     Duncan  Kennedy 
his  a  mianimous  call  to  Duane.     Commg  doubtful.     He  is  by 
b  rth  a  So       I  am  slowly  and  feebly  working  on  a  tract,  long 
on  hand,  for  incoming  German   emigrants.     I   d'^^'-'^ J''. i'''™ 
it  published  in  German,  say  by  the  American  Tract  Socet^^^^^^^^ 
have  tried  in  vain  to  get  something  of  the  kmd.     It «»"  «"  P'^'J 
temporals   as   well   as   spirituals.      The   Eclectic   Re.a<«v^^^^^^^ 
fallin  into  infidel  hands  ;  Dr.  P"celvav,ng  yielded  Aeedacb^ 
in  favour  of  a  young  colleague  of  W.  J.  lox,  M.  P.,  the  feocin 
ian  or  Straussian  preacher  of  London. 


114    WHILE  TROFESSOK  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMUTAEY. 

Princeton,  March  22,  1850. 
Monod's  extracts  (in  the  Presbyterian)  from  De  Wette's 
preface  is  very  instructive;  I  had  seen  the  prefece  before.  It 
touches  your  question  about  Antichrist.^  Though  in  difficulty 
about  the  !Man  of  Sin,  I  can't  feel  satisfied  with  any  thing  that 
reaches  through  so  many  ages.  "  Pantheistic  Infidelity  "  comes 
near  it.  Scherer,  of  Geneva,  gives  up  inspiration.  We  have  an 
original  exposee  from  him  to  Merle.  He  is  just  a  Quaker,  as  to 
these  things.  He  calls  our  old  doctrine  of  inspiration  a  gastro- 
mythic  cahbcdistique  ;  rejects  2  Peter,  Jude,  Kevelation,  (which  is 
full  of  lies  ;)  and  makes,  of  course,  nothing  of  the  Old  Testament. 
About  sixteen  out  of  twenty  students  (Geneva)  go  with  Scherer. 
The  "  numbering  of  the  people  "  gives  following  results  : 

Blacks  converted  (it  began  with  them  ;  say)  15 

Presbyterian  Congregations       ...  60 

College         .......  40 

Methodists  report     .....  80 

195 

There  is  no  abatement  of  the  stir.  About  thirty-seven  addi- 
tional in  college  are  serious.  I  observe  that  our  butchers, 
bakers,  and  id  genus,  flock  to  meetings,  and  talk  of  little  else. 

A  black  girl  (set  13,  but  smart)  came  to  me  under  deep  and 
intelligent  conviction  ;  caused  by  [Episcopal]  Kector  Paterson's 
sermon  last  Sunday  ;  she  sits  in  his  gallery.  About  15 — 20 
of  the  impressed  in  college  are  his  hearers.  Some  of  the 
most  resisting  and  opposing  persons  in  college,  are  sons 
of  good  men,  and  ministers.  Snodgrass  has  admitted  100  at 
his  new  Goshen.  The  whole  east  end  of  Long  Island  is  in  a 
blaze,  especially  East  Hampton,  where  there  is  no  pastor.  It 
was  there  that  Dr.  Buel  and  Dr.  Beecher  were  settled.  Every- 
thing in  that  isolated  region  remains  as  200  years  ago. 

Princeton,  May  6,  1850. 

My  father's  Reminiscences  of  Patrick  Henry,  in  the  May 

[Princeton]   Magazine,  will   be  worth  copying   in   newspapers. 

Enter  Mr.  M.  from  Baden.     "  Sare  !     You  speak  ze  Fransh  or 

ze  German  % "     ]\Ir.  M.  desires  to  study  theology  ;  has  been  a 

^  The  question  of  his  correspondent  -was — "Is  not  the  'Man  of  Sin'  a 
bigger  man  than  the  Pope  ?  Is  he  not  the  aTroo-Tatris  of  all  heresy,  crime, 
backsliding  in  the  Church  from  Paul's  day  downwards,  and  appearing  to  the 
Apostle  in  the  revelation  to  him  of  the  future  history  of  the  Church,  like 
the  one  great  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  foreshadowing  many  eras  and 
heterogeneous  powers ?     There  were  'many  Anti-Christs '  in  John's  day." 


184:9—1851.  115 

functionary  in  the  treasury  of  the  grand-duke  of  Baden.  Our 
two  Italians  differ.  B.  has  a  plebeian  and  pairickian  look ; 
speaks  beastly  Latin,  and  no  English ;  says  he  was  Captain  in 
the  Revolution,  and  (I  fear  me)  is  some  day  to  be  a  burden  and 
plague  to  his  patrons.^  T.  (whatever  he  is  in  heart)  is  emi- 
nently a  scholar  and  a  gentleman ;  in  either  capacity  fit  to  be 
presented  anywhere.  His  chagrin  under  the  other's  contiguity, 
is  admirable.  They  never  met  till  here.  The  ordination  occurs 
on  the  very  day  our  Examen  begins ;  I  can  do  no  more  than 
run  down  to  the  evening  diet."''  Dr.  Wayland  is  proposing  a 
radical  reform  in  Colleges  ;  just  what  Jefferson  set  on  foot  in  his 
University  :  abolition  of  four-year  course,  mock  diplomas,  hono- 
rary degrees,  &c.  I  agree  in  every  point ;  and  did  before  I  left 
the  college.  A  letter  of  Dr.  W.  Shippen,  2)en£s  me,  speaks  of 
President  Edwards  as  a  "  pretty  gentleman,"  and  of  President 
Finley  as  "  our  stifi",  stammering  Dr.  Einley." 

Yesterday,  five  churches  here  had  Communion.  I  was  with 
the  second  (Presbyterian)  where  fifteen  were  added  on  examina- 
tion. At  the  first,  thirty-four  on  examination.  All  disappointed, 
misanthropic  fellows  seem  of  necessity  to  doubt  about  church 
efforts,  seminaries,  and  whatever  has  grown  up  within  thirty 
years. 

The  Anniversaries  in  New  York  have  got  to  be  scarcely  an 
attraction.  It  is  remarkable  how  great  the  proportion  of  New 
Englanders  is  in  the  crowd.  They  doubtless  tend  to  keep  up 
very  strongly  a  certain  type  of  religious  activity.  The  only 
one  in  which  I  ever  felt  any  religious  advantage,  was  the  A.  B. 
C.  F.  Missions,  which  is  always  managed  with  wisdom ;  speakers 
not  snatched  up  by  accident. 

Princeton,  Maij  21,  1850. 
On  Saturday  I  went  to  New  York  as  an  escort  to  my  hon- 
oured parents,  and  returned  in  the  evening  to  New  Brunswick. 
Coming  homeward  from  New  York,  I  fell  in  with  M.,  who  talked 
abundance  of  smart  things,  and  some  very  good,  against  Agassiz 
and  the  many-race  hypothesis.  I  tabernacled  with  P.,  where,  as 
before,  I  was  both  humbled  and  edified  at  his  extraordinary 
ways  of  making  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  and  teaching  good  things 
to   his   children.     I   have   never  been  in  a  family  in  which  so 

^  This  was  fulfilled.  B.  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  Presbyterial  license  as 
probationer,  but  it  was  afterwards  revoked.  T.  afterwards  set  up  an  Italian 
paper,  It  Esicle  Italiano,  in  New  York. 

^  Tlie  ordination  of  Messrs.  Horatio  W.  Shaw  and  Lawrence  G.  Hay, 
missionaries  to  India,  which  took  place  at  Trenton,  May  8th,  at  which  ser- 
vice Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  preached. 


116    WHILE  PEOFESSOE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINAET. 

much  is  made  of  the  Bible,  with  so  little  fuss.  One  of  his 
boys,  about  fourteen,  repeated  a  large  part  of  a  chapter  in  the 
Gospel  of  John,  in  Greek,  evidently  understanding  it  well.  A 
boarder-boy,  on  Saturday  evening,  repeated  the  whole  of  the 
third  chapter  of  Colossians. 

Princeton,  June  3,  1850. 

You  are  too  severe  in  your  stricture  on  seminary  teaching. 
I  never  heard  the  methods  complained  of  as  failing  to  make 
ministerial  practice  the  daily  end.  Whole  portions  of  the  course 
have  no  other  ingredient ;  as  Dr.  Miller's  lectures  on  Sermons 
and  Discipline,  and  the  long  series  of  teachings  in  pastoral  the- 
ology. Other  portions  daily  include  the  same,  at  proper  places. 
The  separate  teaching  of  experimental  religion,  would  be  finely 
illustrated  by  our  Presbyterial  examinations  thereanent. 

West  Point  is  as  near  perfect  (for  its  ends)  as  any  thing  I 
ever  saw.  What  an  incomparable  locality  !  esplanade,  water, 
mountains,  verdure,  ruins,  decorations  !  I  had  a  pleasant  day 
there.  The  music  delightful ;  the  appearance  of  the  cadets,  and 
the  separate  drill  of  the  regulars,  were  tip  to  all  my  imagination 
of  that  sort  of  beauty.  The  new  railway  along  the  Hudson  is 
a  convenience  ;  forty  miles  an  hour,  sometimes. 

Qth. — Backwardness  in  Repertory  copy,  has  driven  me  from 
epistolary  to  journalistic  elaboration  ;  (there's  a  fine  modern  sen- 
tence for  you.)^  From  Duane  St.  people  I  have  received,  since  I 
left  them,  (and  all  but  8100  unsolicited,)  |l,500  for  Seminary  wants. 
The  panorama  of  Italy  is  the  next  thing  to  travel  there.  Barnum 
is  delivering  temperance  lectures ;  \^^ill  he  not  one  day  compete 

with  for   presidentship '?      A   seemingly   crazed   minister 

called  this  morning,  in  forma  pauperis.  B.  is  on  the  text  "  I  go 
a-fishing."  He  is  to  settle  in  a  new  church  in  Brooklyn.  Lan- 
neau  [Missionary  to  Palestine]  tells  rae  he  preached  eight  years 
in  Arabic.  C.  is  going  or  gone  to  California  with  Spieker,  the 
inventor."  Dr.  T.  declares  the  method  new  and  infallible ;  but 
this  does  not  ensure  the  profit  of  it.  No  other  preparation, 
known  to  chemists,  will  solve  the  gold  without  solving  the  other 
things.  A  pound  of  black  sand  was  given  to  the  usual  operators 
in  New  York,  and  a  pound  of  the  same  to  T.  Cost  of  extracting 
by  former =2.+  ;  cost  by  latter  less  than  one  cent.  Much  of 
the  secret  is  in  the  incredible  diluteness  of  the  liquid,  which  pre- 

^  His  papers  in  the  Repertory  for  1850  were  on  Dr.  Foote's  History  of 
Virginia,  German  Church  History,  The  Reformation  in  Spain,  Close  Com- 
munion, and  German  Hymnology. 

^  Of  a  process  for  disengaging  gold  from  the  quartz,  &c.,  which  came  to 
nothing. 


1S49— 1851.  117 

vents  its  taking  up  any  thing  but  the  gold.     You  see  diamonds 
are  at  length  made  in  Paris. 

Princeton,  June  24,  1850. 
While  E.  J.  Walker  was  Secretary  of  Treasury,  the  New 
York  collector  informed  him  of  an  entry  of  magnificently  illus- 
trated books  from  France,  value  $3—5,000  ;  but  obscene.  W. 
ordered  them  to  be  instantly  burnt.  Importers  threatened  ven- 
geance in  a  suit.     Walker  defied  them.     Of  course  they  never 

prosecuted.     is  here  :    "  Give,  give  !  "     A  certain  kind  of 

eloquence  he  undoubtedly  has,  but  his  stock  is  small.  Sundry 
whole  paragraphs  repeated  bodily.  N.  B.  You  will  be  more 
likely  to  be  observed,  if  you  do  this  with  Xk^  imrimreus  ^cmnus  ; 
e.  g.  "  We  have  run  up  our  flag,  and  we  mean  to  nail  it  .  .  .  want 
more  nails;"  (three  times.)  Payson's  dying  words  (twice.) 
"  On  the  borders  of  the  man  of  sin  .  .  .  crevasse  into  Mexico  " 
(three  times.)  "My  Master  never  tells  lies"  (once  ...  too 
many.)     After  all,  I  think   he  probably  makes  impression  on 

some,  even  here. 

I  have  just  sent  seventy-seven  vols.,  big  and  little,  to  the 
embryo  college  of  Austin,  Texas.  Dr.  Torrey  has  been  deliver- 
iufv  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  structure,  &c.,  of  plants,  all  which 
I  have  attended  with  great  delight.  He  used  drawings,  borrowed 
from  Agassiz.  You  may  judge  of  size  by  this :  pollen-grains 
were  in  some  cases  represented  (highly  coloured)  as  big  as  large 
musk-melons.  T.  is  an  admirable  lecturer.  Neanmoins,  our 
young  collegians  treated  it  (being  non-compulsory)  with  contempt, 
the  number  of  undergraduates  towards  the  last  being  7  ...  15. 

The  article  on  Hymnology  is  clever,  but  absurd.  Some 
young  Oxonian,  fresh  from  his'metres.  So  little  is  he  at  home 
in  his'' own  field,  that  he  speaks  of  the  Reformers  as  having  made 
one  version  from  the  old  church-hymns  ;  Veni  Creator  Spiritus. 
I  have  counted  of  Luther's  alone,  from  this  source,  twelve ;  and 
in  a  hasty  review  of  reformation-hymns,  in  German  alone,  from 
old  Latin,  134.  This  is  exclusive  of  Psalms.  Of  course,  my 
gleaning  is  but  a  handful.  Few  people  know  how  little  origin- 
ality the  world  possesses.  Twenty-four  hymns  in  the  Methodist 
Hymn-book  (Wesleyan)  are  from  the  German.  Of  some  single 
Latin  hymns,  I  think  I  can  produce  twenty  Protestant  versions. 

Warn  Tom  [on  entering  College]  against  early  acquaintance- 
ship. I  have  seen  it  make  study  impossible,  by  the  everlasting 
run  on  one's  room  ;  and  there  is  no  possible  preventive,  but- 
waiting  long,  and  choosing  one's  own  friends,  not  being  chosen 
by  them,  f  never  saw  a  perfectly  punctual  scholar  go  astmy. 
Get  him  to  go  always  to  the  Thursday  evening  lecture.     Ln- 


118    WHILE  TEOFESSOE   IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINAET. 

courage  him  to  write  voii  a  \Yeekly  account  of  the  studies,  how- 
ever repetitious.  I  think  there  will  prove  to  be  more  in  this  than 
appears.  I  hope  he  will  not  neglect  the  French  ;  almost  all  do. 
Wistar  Hodge  is  talked  of  for  Greek  Tutor;  he  is  the  best 
Grecian  I  ever  saw  of  his  age.  Henry  has  learnt  more  in  a  few 
months  with  him,  than  I  could  have  thought  possible.  Dr.  Duff 
is  making  a  great  impression  in  Edinburgh.  I'll  try  to  send  you 
one  of  his  speeches.  Though  I  nauseate  a  little  at  their  mutual 
be-praising,  hoAV  much  better  it  is,  in  its  spirit,  than  our  Ameri- 
can sullenness,  as  to  one  another's  good  deeds,  in  our  public 
bodies  !  How  surprising,  if  A  should  laud  B,  or  C  descant  on 
D's  eloquence,  or  E  glorify  E,  or  G  magnify  H  !  Even  if  sham, 
this  overt  pulling-together  gives  strength  to  the  esprit  de  corps, 
and  explains  the  $10,000,000  which  the  Eree  Church  has  raised. 
American  preachers  are  getting  to  stand  towards  one  another  as 
do  the  doctors.  Ross,  the  Cherokee,  says  they  are  trying  for  a 
Cherokee  college.  Foreman,  once  of  the  Seminary,  (a  native,)  is 
very  useful,  j^reaching  in  both  tongues,  publishing  Almanacs,  &c.^ 

Peincetox,  Juli/  2,  1850. 
Some  people  say  the  temple  of  Janus  is  shut.  Connecticut  As- 
sociation affirm  unanimously  (Bushnell  and  all)  resolutions  made 
in  terms  of  catechism,  imputation  included.  Our  village  is 
empty.  You  now  have  the  new  experience  of  the  doctorate, 
and  can  agree  that  the  half  has  not  been  told  you.  Indeed,  the 
sentiments  engendered  by  this  addition  to  one's  title  are  such  as 
beggar  description.'^  Finney  is  on  a  high  horse  in  London.  Dr. 
Campbell,  of  the  Banner,  puts  him  as  high  as  the  greatest 
preachers  ever  heard  in  the  Tabernacle.  Inquiry-meetings  num- 
ber 700.  Lectures  edited  anew  by  J.  A.  James.  Do  not  you 
find  the  grandeur  of  things  English,  as  such,  decreasing  in  your 
apprehension'?  In  theology  and  religion,  I  really  think  we 
get  hardly  any  thing  from  them  as  good  as  our  own ;  while  they 
republish  all  our  books.  What  can  they  show  alongside  of 
Stuart,  Barnes,  Robinson,  Nordheimer,  et  al.  1  I  had  a  protracted 
meeting  with  V.,  in  respect  to  the  expected  Advent ;  learn  from 

him  that has  demolished  the  Repertory,  and  proved  N.  an 

Atheist ;    that  each  of  us  ought  to  teach  his  children  a  manual 
trade ;    that  all  but  Millenarians   make   little   of  Bible ;    that 

^  Rev.  Stephen  Foreman,  now  at  Tahlequah,  Arkansas. 

^  Another  correspondent  on  this  occasion  communicated  the  following 
admonitory  anecdote  :  "  ^Yhen  Mr.  C,  a  good  Irish  minister,  late  of  the 
Eeformed  Presbytery,  received  his  degree,  and  was  admonished  by  one  of 
his  good  members  not  to  be  exalted  above  measure,  he  rephed,  '  dear 
madam,  I  feel  that  I  need  a  great  deal  of  grace.'  " 


1849—1851.  119 

other  books  are  pretty  much  superfluous ;  that  Melchizedek  is 
Christ,  (so  I  understood ;)  and  that  D.  had  settled  the  Advent 
question  when  he  was  in  the  Seminary.  P.'s  last,  anent  H.'s 
fury  against  old  school :  "  A  man  said,  '  My  wife  is  mighty 
zealous,  but  she  haint  got  no  religion.'  "  Richard  Rush  gradu- 
ated here  in  '97.  He  tells  me  he  saw  Witherspoon's  corpse.^ 
I  am  in  heart  a  Quaker  as  to  mourning ;  I  see  no  harm  in  a 
simple  badge,  but  abominate  modern  "  mourning,"  above  all 
that  of  females — crape,  (the  smell  is  charnelly.) 

You  will  read  Duff's  speeches^  with  wonder  at  the  chilliness 
of  our  Assembly.  How  few  people  get  the  floor  in  the  Scotch 
Assembly  !  How  little  work  for  the  chair  !  How  few  points 
of  order  !  How  great  the  power  of  Cunningham  and  Candlish  ! 
How  Avarm  and  good  the  Moderator's  closing  speech  ! 

Pkinceton,  July  18,  1850. 

Anna  J.,  a  Sunday  School  child  and  catechumen  of  mine, 
[in  New  York,]  was  put  into  the  Rutgers  Institute  on  a  scholar- 
ship among  four  hundred.  She  has  just  graduated,  and  I  see  comes 
out  prima ;  gold  medal  for  best  composition  ;  ditto  last  year  for 
French  ;  high  in  Mathematics.  I  see  by  Knox's  history,  that  he 
provided  liturgic  forms  for  ordination,  &c.,  with  prayers,  in  full, 
which  are  extant.^ 

I  was  struck  with  Brougham's  saying,  that  one  may  buy  a 
newspaper  on  Sunday,  but  not  a  Bible.  How  hard  to  legislate 
about  points  of  conscience,  and  impossible  to  enforce  !  Our  dead- 
letter  laws  anent  Sunday-travel,  profaneness,  &c.,  ought  to  be 
overhauled,  before  we  add  to  their  number. 

The  progress  of  Christianity  among  the  Nestorians  is  wonder- 
ful. The  imagination  is  struck  with  a  missionary  at  Nineveh, 
[Mosul.]  Gurley's  speech  gives  me  new  impressions  about 
Liberia.  Some  day  Australia  and  New  Zealand  will  break  on 
the  world  with  a  surprise  like  that  which  the  United  States  is 
causing  to  Europe.  A  German  writer,  long  resident  in  Russia, 
says :  "  The  Russian  life,  moving  rapidly  eastward,  will  it  not 
one  day  join  with  the  Anglo-American  life,  moving  westward, 
on  a  stage  for  the  last  act  of  the  world's  drama  1  When  the 
old-world  vitality  shall  be  worn  out ;  when  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia shall  play  the  part  that  England  and  France  do  now ; 
when  the  American  nation,  in  which  the  best  blood  of  Western 

^  The  Hon.  Eichard  Rush  died  at  Philadelphia  in  1859. 

^  In  the  Free  Church  General  Assembly  of  Scotland. 

'  In  1857  Mr.  Scribner  published  "A  Book  of  Public  Prayer,  compiled 
from  the  authorized  formularies  of  worship  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches, 
as  prepared  by  the  Reformers  Calvin,  Knox,  Bucer,  and  others." 


120     WniLE  PEOFESSOR  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMIXAET. 

Europeans  mingled,  shall  have  asserted  the  power  of  science  and 
art  over  physical  nature ;  when  sail  and  steam-vessels  sweep 
through  the  isthmian  canal,  and  railways  connect  the  oceans ;  and 
wiien  the  people  of  America  by  fleets  and  commerce  touch  the 
ancient  inhabiters  of  Asia  ;  then  the  circle  of  the  globe  will  be 
complete,  and  the  last  leaf  of  history  turned ;  and  then,  per- 
haps, Avill  the  battle  be  joined  between  the  political  and  religious 
despotism  of  Russia  and  the  principles  of  freedom  and  equal- 
ity. When  the  command  '  be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replen- 
ish the  earth '  is  fulfilled,  then  the  creation  is  at  an  end.  When 
the  command  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  Avorld,'  &c.,  is  accomplished, 
then  the  work  of  redemption  is  perfect,  and  the  Lord  comes  to 
judgment." 

The  negotiations  between  Lancaster  and  Mercersburg  will 
be  realized,  if  the  German  Reformers  can  raise  $15,000  to  buy 
out  the  Lutheran  share  in  Franklin  College,  and  the  peo2>le  of 
Lancaster  raise  $25,000  for  buildings.  There  seems  to  me  to  be 
great  wisdom  in  the  German  way  of  having  no  University  build- 
ings, except  for  libraries.  The  reasons  for  it,  in  a  fluctuating  or 
new  country,  are  greater  still.  True,  this  would  fix  colleges 
pretty  much  in  large  towns.  I  have  often  thought  we  could  not 
do  a  better  thing,  than  to  sell  out  our  pinched  seven  acres  in 
Princeton,  and  buy  a  hundred  for  the  same  money.  The  whole 
method  of  college  "  rooming  "  and  "  commons,"  dissatisfies  me. 
In  a  village,  however,  it  is  unavoidable.  Demme  declines  his 
Gettysburg  chair,  and  they  will  send  a  committee  to  Germany 
for  a  man.  Three  Germans  are  to  decide,  viz.,  Tholuck,  Iloftman, 
(the  Hebraistic  successor  of  Gesenius,)  and  Harless  of  Dresden, 
an  old-Lutheran  of  the  invariata  school,  and  a  pious,  eloquent 
man.  It  is  an  attempt  to  win  back  the  alienated  German- 
Lutherans  to  the  American-Lutheran  School  at  Gettysburg.^ 

Assure  "  each  and  every  "  (law  fo]'ms  and  prayers  in  church 
are  my  authority)  of  my,  &c.,  &;c. 

Princeton,  July  26,  1850, 

^  It  would  be  odd,  indeed,  if  any  court  should  set  aside  as 
invalid  an  ordination  ratified  by  our  General  Assembly,  sitting 
not   only  as  our  highest  judicature,  but  as  our  highest   legis- 

^  The  Rev.  Dr.  Schaffer,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  elected  to  the  German 
Theoloj^ical  Professorship  at  Gettysburg.  Lancaster  remained  the  seat  of 
the  College  Department. 

^  In  the  General  Assembly  of  1850  an  attempt  was  made  to  obtain  the 
disapprobation  of  that  Court  of  an  act  of  a  Presbytery,  in  ordaining  a  licen- 
tiate, when  but  two  ministers  were  present — the  third  (requisite  for  a 
quorum)  having  approved  of  all  the  preliminary  proceedings,  but  being 


1849—1851.  121 

lature    and  competent   even  in   the  latter   capacity   to    solve 
S  ikforlalities   ^      declarative   acts.     As   to   the   ordmatic^a 
b7commission,  it  is  a  question  simply  of  fac       Nobody  holds 
such   ordinations    allowable   under    our    consti  ution.      But   as 
to  what   has   hee^i  done  by  Presbyterians,  m  all  the  Reformed 
Churches,  the   fact   of    ordination    by   committee   is   as  unde- 
niable  as   the    flict    that   any   one   ^vas   ever   ordained.       ihe 
Westminster  Directory  says :  "The  Presbytery  shall  come  to 
the  place,  or  at  least  three  or  four  ministei^  of  the  word  shall 
be  sent  ihither  from  the  Presbytery ^  &c    &c.     The  Repertory 
has  not  recommended  nor  endorsed  this  well  known  Presby  tei;ian 
precedent.     The  laying  on  of  hands  is  only  a  part  of  ordination 
The   other   and   greater   parts  took  place  m  an  acknowledged 
Quorum.     If  the  moderator  had,  in  pursuance  of  direction,  laid 
on  his  hands,  it  would  have  been,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the 
layin-  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery.     Or  may  not  some 
one  tSke  exceptions,  if  (as  often)  one  of  a  Presbytery  of  twenty- 
five  is  crowded  out  from  the  circle,  and  fliils  to  impose  his  hands  ? 
You  refer  to  Webster,  and  so  will  I.     In  his  last  speech  on  the 
compromise,  he  says  admirably,  that  Congress  has,  by  its  sanc- 
tion, covered  and  supplied  all  informalities  m  the  admission  of 
Texas.     So  in  this  case.      Quod  non  debet  fieri,  valet  factum  ^   Ihe 
Assembly  censures  the  irregularity,  and  constructively  forbids  it. 
What  more  can  any  large-minded  Presbyterian  ask  %     Reordma- 
tion  -2     This  would  produce  endless  misapprehension.  _ 

Imposition  of  hands  is  so  far  from  being  the  mam  thing  to 
secure  valid  orders,  that  Presbyterians  have  from  the  very 
Reformation,  separated  from  papists  and  prelatists,  on  this  very 
point.  Surely  we  need  not  be  stiffer  than  John  Knox  See 
the  "  Buke  of  Discipline,"  confirmed  by  General  Assembly  and 
by  Parliament,  1560  :  "  Other  ceremonie  than  the  publict  appro- 
batioun  of  the  peple,  and  declaration  of  the  chiefe  minister  tlmt 
the  persone  thair  presented  is  appoyntit  to  serve  that  Kirk,  ^^e 
can  nott  approve ;  for  albeitt  the  Apostillis  used  the  impositioun 
ofhandis,jet  seeing  the  mirakle  is  ceasit,  the  using  of  the  cere- 
monie we  iuge  is  nott  necessarie."  This,  indeed,  proves  nothing 
as  to  our  municipal  provisions ;  which,  when  censurably  neglected, 
may,  by  the  supreme  judicatory,  be  declared  valid,  though  ii- 

absent  at  the  act  of  ordination.  The  Assembly  refused  *«  ,^f  t^^Jj^jf  ^^^^^^^^ 
nation  in  this  case  on  account  of  a  formal  irregularity,  when  there  couia 
Se  no  doubt  'of  the  vaUdity.  The  remarks  of  the  letter  were  called  fordi 
by  some  questions  as  to  the  admissibility  of  the  decision  m  a  ^^J^  ^f  com 
mon  law,  and  as  to  lawfulness  of  ordaining  ^7  commission.  The  re^^^^^^ 
to  the  Repertory  is  to  a  review  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembl}  in  tne 
number  for  July,  1850. 

VOL.  II. — 6 


122     WHILE  PEOFESSOE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMIXAEY. 

regular ;  but  it  is  very  significant  as  to  wliat  the  Presbyterian 
spirit  is  respecting  tliis  declarative  formality ;  which  formality 
is,  after  all,  present  in  the  act  as  now  presented. 

The  minister  was  ordained  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  Presbytery,  though  some  of  the  Presbytery  were  away,  and 
though  some  present  did  not  lay  on  both  ''  hands."  The  men 
ordained  in  Knox's  days  were  not  presbyterially  ordained  at  all,, 
according  to  the  narrower  construction  of  Presbyterianism. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  objections  to  the  Assembly's  deci- 
sion have  not  proceeded  in  any  case  known  to  me  from  the  older 
and  more  rigid  ministers,  who  seem  all  satisfied.  And  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  Assembly  utters  no  declaration,  but 
simply  admits  the  given  acts  of  Synod  and  Presbytery,  without 
censure.     I  hold  the  Repertory's  reasons  to  be  unanswerable. 

If  the  preceding  parts  of  the  ordination  had  been  by  less 
than  a  quorum,  the  question  would  have  been  raised,  which  was 
touched  in  the  debate,  as  to  whether  three  or  a  mere  j?:)^?r?'o///^  is 
necessary  to  valid  ordination.  Of  this  I  might  have  opinions 
of  my  own,  but  it  was  not  properly  before  the  body.  Strict 
construction  can  make  no  whit  more  out  of  Form  Gov.  Cap. 
XV.  §  14.  Every  Lutheran  or  Episcopalian  minister,  who  comes 
to  us,  is  presumed  to  have  a  valid,  though  an  irregular  ordina- 
tion ;  here  the  distinction  taken  by  Repertory  is  fundamental.  I 
think  there  are  sound  reasons  why  acts  performed  but  once,  such 
as  marriage,  ordination,  baptism,  &c.,  should  admit  of  being 
ratified,  in  spite  of  informality,  even  though  some  other  acts, 
such  as  erecting  a  Presbytery,  &c.,  should  be  annulled,  with 
orders  to  repeat  them  in  due  form.  This  is  clearly  accordant 
with  the  views  of  the  canonists,  even  as  to  Baptism. 

Princeton,  Atcgiist  2,  1850. 

Torrey  shows  me  some  mirabilia  of  infusorial  shells,  invisible 
without  high  microscopes ;  their  beauty,  in  form  and  colour,  is 
inexpressibly  sui  generis.  Yet  they  have  passed  through  the  in- 
testines of  Pacific  fowl,  being  abstracted  from  washings  of  the 
guano.  A  man  named  Spencer,  in  an  out. of  the  way  place  in 
New  York,  has  beat  all  the  world  in  microscopes.  The  English 
ones  cannot,  like  his,  resolve  lines  56,000  in  an  inch.  I  am  sorry 
for  the  loss  of  the  Compromise,  [repeal  of  the  Missouri  act.] 
I  hoped  Clay  and  Webster  would  have  carried  it  over  the  free- 
soilers  and  nullifiers.  It  seems  as  if  One  "  higher  than  the 
highest "  would  keep  the  awful  slavery-question  among  matters 
for  his  own  hand. 

As  to  the  question  of  legal  ordination,  I  will  only  observe, 
that  "  ordained  minister  "  has  been  held  by  some  of  our  ablest 


1849—1851.  123 

lawyers  (Ch.  J.  Ewing  especially)  to  import  in  the  acceptation 
of  the  law  any  accredited  minister,  particularly  (in  the  case  when 
he  was  consulted)  a  probationer.  I  know  a  case  in  Virginia,  in 
which  the  same  was  held ;  and  though  hundreds  of  marriages 
have  been  solemnized  by  licentiates,  none  of  them  have  ever  been 
questioned  in  law,  though  often  forbidden  by  church-courts.  I 
have  never  talked  with  my  father  about  the  late  case,  but  I 
know  his  testimony  as  to  the  facts  above  stated.  Princeton 
census  =1  — 2,000.     I  am  slowly  writing  "  Sermons  to  Boys." 

Pkinceton,  August  26,  1850. 

I  have  the  letters  of  twenty  years,  exceptis  excipiendis,  filed 
and  labelled :  I  cannot  remember  to  have  ever  looked  at  them 
ten  times.  In  no  one  instance  has  any  thing  of  importance  de- 
pended on  the  search.  My  father  and  Addison  burn  their  letters. 
I  was  at  the  sea  for  a  week,  with  less  enjoyment  than  common. 
I  preached  in  Fifth  Avenue.^  Mr.  Donaldson  drove  me  out  to 
Greenwood ;  my  first  visit.  The  locality  is  unsurpassed,  but 
tVo  ^f  ^^1®  tombs  are  burlesques  or  blunders.  Cemeteries  do 
not  arride  me.  The  last  London  Yearly  Meeting  agreed  to  have 
plain  memorial  slabs,  like  those  of  the  Moravians.  Somewhat 
suddenly  I  have  entered  Henry  of  the  Freshman  class.  They 
say  the  Sophomore  class  is  a  fine  one.  The  signs  of  thorough 
drilling  by  the  tutors  are  very  pleasing  to  me  ;  short  lessons  and 
long  inquisition  on  them. 

I  am  told  the  Boston  and  Andover  folks  regard  P.  with  a 
sort  of  adoration.  His  last  great  discourse  gives  them  a  recipe 
for  holding  any  doctrine,  however  repulsive.  You  have  only  to 
declare  its  strong  expressions  "  the  language  of  emotion."  Since 
capital  punishment  is  so  nearly  extinct  in  Philadelphia,  it  is  a 
wonder  they  have  so  many  murders.  A  very  promising  Sunday 
School  and  preaching  have  been  started  in  the  very  focus  of  the 
Five  Points.  Children  from  8 — 10  years  old  come  to  school 
drunk.  Drunken  people  appear  at  the  meetings.  Mr.  Hall,  a 
worthy  Methodist,  owner  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  is  one 
of  the  leaders  in  the  enterprise. 

Princeton,  September  5,  1850. 

We  had  large  numbers  of  the  Black  Sons  of  Temperance 
here  to-day,  from  Trenton  and  elsewhere,  with  bands  and  para- 
phernalia ;  also  what  seemed  to  be  the  Daughters  and  Grand- 
sons, in  considerable  force.  Thus  far,  our  accession  to  the  Semi- 
nary is  about  46.  They  are  still  coming  in.  I  was  unable  to 
go  to  Dr.  Cuyler's  burial,'^  as  my  first  exercise  with  the  new 

^  First  Churcli,  Xew  York,  August  18. 

=  The  Rev.  Dr.  C.  C.  Cuyler  died  at  Philadelphia,  August  31,  1850. 


12i    WHILE  PEOFESSOR  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SE:NnNAIiT. 

class,  and  my  only  one  for  the  week,  occurred  at  the  hour.     Our 
situation  in  this  respect  is  more  confining  than  that  of  pastors, 
unless  where  we  have  good  long  notice.     We  hear  of  the  death 
of  a  valuable  student,  Culbertson,  brother  of  the  missionary. 
He  left  us,  somewhat  ailing,  for  a  tour  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  came  back  perfectly  restored,  as  it  seemed,  but  died  of  a 
dysentery,  at  his  father's  house  in  Chambersburg.     He  was  very 
assiduous   by  the  bedside   of   Candor,  [p.  108.]     We  have,  as 
usual,  [in  the  Seminary,]  several  Baptists,  and  expect  a  Metho- 
dist and  an  Episcopalian.     One  of  our  students  has  been  a  year 
under  Cunningham,  at  Edinburgh.     They  pretend  that  Castle 
Garden  will   hold   8,000   hearers  of   [Jenny]   Lind.     What  an 
organ  hers  must  be !     The  furore  in  New  York  is  quite  ridicu- 
lous ;    crowds  besieging  the  hotel,  and  gaping  at  the  windows. 
The  boys  tell  me  there  is  much  excitement  about  North  and 
South  in  college.     The  Whigs   have   elected  Venable  as  their 
June  orator.     We  have  a  student  who  will  not  sing  any  human 
compositions  ;  Rouse's  being  perhaps  inhuman.     1  am  gratified 
to  hear  of  a  case  of  marked  seriousness  in  college  ;  I  fear,  how- 
ever, this  is  far  from  being  indicative  of  the  general  tone.     The 
London  papers  give  flaming  accounts  of  Einney's  sermons  and 
audiences.     There  is  no  allusion  to  his  later  doctrines  of  per- 
fectionism.    I  wonder  if  a  day  will  not  come,  when  the  immense 
increase  of  printed  matter  will  cause  a  reaction   in  favour  of 
old-time  methods,  oral  learning,  discoursing  sub  dio,  like  that  of 
the  Athenians  and  the  New  Testament.     Even  in  Plato's  day, 
he  was  led  to  fear  the  ill  consequences  to  human  powers  from 
overmuch   reading.     News   is   a   very  different  affair,  in  daily 
papers  and  in  word  of  mouth.     AVe  at  length  have  a  priest  here ; 
1  believe  they  have  mass  in  their  unfinished  house.     The  extract 
you  give,  respecting  our  fathers,  so   many  years   ago,  is  very 
interesting.'     My  good  old  father  has  not  been  less  than  60  years 
a  preacher ;    but  I  have  never  heard  him  preach  any  autobiog- 
raphy, self  statistics,  or  census  of    successes.     If  fruit  was  un- 
wholesome, our  collegians  would  all  be  on  their  backs,  but  they 
seem  blessed  with  uncommon  health.     The  prevalence  of  dysen- 
tery in  some  parts  does  not  seem  to  have  had  the  slightest  con- 
nexion with  diet. 

Lisco,  on  the  Parables,  is  a  remarkably  sensible  book  to  have 
come  from  Germany,  and  very  full  of  sermonizing  suggestions, 
the  more  valuable  because  it  avoids  all  straining  of  the  parables. 
What  a  delightful  negligence  in  Hume's  style ;  it  is  the  least 
wearying  I  ever  read  ;  but  what  nefarious  perversion,  and  what 
meagerness  of  research ! 

^  It  has  since  been  printed  in  Dr.  Sprague's  "  Annals  of  the  Pulpit," 
vol.  ill.,  p.  610. 


1849—1851.  125 

Princeton,  October  Y,  1850. 

Your  note  was  a  little  delayed,  as  the  letter  lay  unopened  till 
my  return  from  New  York,  which  capital  I  found  much  in  the 
same  state  as  you  left  it.  I  preached  once  for  Dr.  Potts,  in  com- 
pliance with  a  Parthian  request  of  his.  He  was  last  heard  of  at 
St.  Petersburg.  Some  expect  him  to-day  in  the  Atlantic.  He 
has  a  noble  congregation.  Erskine  Mason  is  still  very  ill.^  A 
Norwegian  Methodist  missionary,  Brother  Willerup,  called  on 
me  on  his  way  to  Wisconsin.  I  heard  Dr.  Tyng  in  New  York, 
with  much  pleasure.  The  chanting  was  excellent.  Sermon  of 
the  most  extempore  sort. 

I  have  flattering  ofl^ers  to  write  for  the  North  British  Review. 
I  have  no  present  thought  of  compliance,  though  I  should  like 
the  £10  a  sheet.  Thompson,  of  the  Tabernacle,  is  preaching 
against  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  (when  did  Bill  run  away  ?) 
This,  and  the  play  of  Hamlet,  excite  much  attention  among  the 
people.  Old  Mr.  Johnstone,  of  Jersey  City,  has  gone  to  Britain, 
(as  the  Scotch  love  to  call  it.)  Five  Baptist  preachers  attended 
at  the  baptism  of  my  daughter.  Spencer  has  published  a  volume 
of  pastoral  anecdotes  and  conversations.^ 

Washington  Irving's  Mahomet  is  a  whitewashing  of  his  hero; 
"jejune  and  elegant."  Variety  in  sermons  might  be  helped  by 
an  occasional  history,  with  free  bursts  of  remark,  whenever  sug- 
gested ;  it  is  remarkable  how  much  of  the  Bible  is  history.  I 
think  Elijah  and  Elisha  a  good  topic.  The  argument  of  the  book 
of  Job  would  make  a  good  sermon.  In  general,  the  argument 
of  a  Sunday  School  book  might  be  occasionally  preached  with 
advantage.  I  have  been  acquainting  myself  with  Luther's  ser- 
mons. Nothing  can  be  more  natural,  simple,  earnest,  downright, 
practical,  pungent,  or  affectionate.  They  are  models  of  the 
plainest,  liveliest  sort ;  the  very  opposite  of  modern  German 
sermons,  which  are  as  constrained  in  their  elegant  partition  as  a 
sonnet  or  an  acrostic.  I  have  had  to  look  into  some  of  these 
professionally ;  and  I  declare  I  am  unable  to  find  one,  which  is 
worthy  of  reperusal,  except  some  of  Tholuck's,  which  are 
beautiful  warm  rhapsodies.  The  oldest  person  found  in  our 
three  townships  by  the  censor,  is  a  pauper  drunkard  in  East 
Windsor,  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College,  set.  96.  The  number 
of  coloured  people  in  Princeton  is  about  500  ;  perhaps  as  large 
a  proportion  of  free  blacks  as  anywhere,  being  one-fourth.  How 
little  noise  is  made  by  the  death  of  the  greatest  monarch  of  our 
day  !     [Louis  Philippe.] 

The   Repertory's   review   of  Park   has  led  me  to  look  at 

^  Dr.  Mason  died  May  14,  1851. 

=*  "  A  Pastor's  Sketches,"  by  Kev.  Dr.  Spencer,  of  Brooklyn. 


126     WHILE  PEOFESSOE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMIXAKT. 

MorelL'  His  doctrine  is  much  tlie  same  as  Sclierer's,  and  is 
very  formidably  presented.  1  have  nowhere  seen  so  artful  an 
assault  on  the  common  doctrine  of  Inspiration.  It  involves  the 
denial  not  merely  of  Inspiration  but  of  truth,  in  many  parts  of 
Scripture,  and  leaves  us  to  sever  the  errors  from  the  truth  by 
some  kind  of  divination  or  intuition.  Such  a  belief  would  make 
me  long  for  the  popish  assurances.  My  poor  Duane  Street 
folks  make  no  progress.  I  look  confidently  for  the  stronger 
portion  of  them  to  go  up-town,  at  Avhatever  loss  of  property  in 
the  present  building. 

Addison's  present  duties  keep  him  reading  the  text  of  the 
Bible,  with  versions,  &c.,  from  morning  till  night.  The  applica- 
tions for  ministers,  from  Texas  alone,  would  absorb  all  the  young 
men  we  are  about  to  send  out.  The  openings  in  Wisconsin  are 
also  surprisingly  great. 

Princeton,  November  11,  1S50. 
I  was  sorry  to  cross  you  on  Saturday,  but  I  w^as  on  my 
way  to  New  York,  wdiere  I  had  not  preached  for  a  long  time. 
I  found  my  late  charge  much  dwindled,  though  communions 
are  seasons  in  which  they  try  to  make  a  rally.  They  have 
authorized  their  trustees  to  sell,  but  I  know  not  who  will  buy. 
When  old  Grant  Thorburn  (Laurie  Todd)  came  over  to  this 
country,  it  was  in  a  vessel  in  which  was  a  poor  Scotch  woman 
wdth  a  child.  Grant  helped  to  nurse  the  baby  ;  who  now,  after 
sixty  years,  as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York,  gives  him  a 
place  in  the  Bonded  Warehouse.  Hereupon  Grant  quotes, "  Cast 
thy  bread,  &c."  I  did  not  hear  Miss  Lind,  though  she  sang  on 
Saturday  night.  Kirkwood,  the  mathematician,  whose  newly- 
discovered  law  respecting  the  planetary  distances,  makes  so  much 
noise  among  the  astronomers,  as  ranking  with  Kepler's  and 
Newton's,  is  an  humble,  pious,  Presbyterian  elder.  Stephen 
Alexander  supposes  himself  to  have  demonstrated  mathematical- 
ly that  all  the  comets,  whose  periods  are  known,  were  once  one 
comet, 

Princeton,  December  13,  1850. 

I  did  not  mean  to  steal  a  march  on  you,  but  I  was  really  so 

overwhelmed  with  odds  and  ends  of  business,  before  getting  off 

for  Virginia,  that  I  went  away  almost  imperceptibly,  and  collo 

ohtorto.''     Now  that  I  have  returned,  safe  and  sound,  I  ought  to 

^  "  Philosophy  of  Religion." 

"  The  purpose  of  tliis  journey  was  to  fulfil  an  appointment  to  preach  one 
of  the  series  of  lectures  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  in  the  University 


18^9—1851.  127 

feel  thankful  for  exemption  from  all  delays  and  all  accidents.     I 
left  home  on  the  2d,  and  returned  on  the  12th.     I  never  made  so 
abrupt  a  plunge  into  Old  Virginia,  and  the  contrasts  struck  mo 
mightily.     Albemarle  is  justly  reputed  the  best  specimen  of 
rural  Virginianism.     The  University  is  flourishing  ;    nearly  four 
^io""^^^'^^    students.      The   professors    (each)    have   houses,   but 
$3,000  is  the  maximum  of  their  emolument.     Staying  as  I  did 
within  the  precincts,  I  was  pleased  to  observe  that  there  was 
not  the  least  rowdyism  or  unmannerly  noise ;  and  I  was  told 
perfect  quiet  prevails  in  their  lecture-rooms.     The  audiences  at 
the  lectures  on  the  Evidences  are  large.     A  voluntary  meetino- 
for  prayers,  by  morning  candle-light,  Is  attended  by  about  fifty"! 
As  you  might  suppose,  much  was  said  in  Virginia  about  the 
slavery  business.      With   one  remarkable  exception,   I   found, 
among  a  great  number  with  whom  I  conversed,  no  man  desiiing 
disunion.     All  they  ask  is  the  carrying  out  of  the  Constitution"^ 
by  enforcmg  the  late  law.     Such  is  unquestionably  the  temper 
of  the  masses.      Yet   there  are  some   terrible  "fire-eaters"  at 
Richmond,  and  these  are  making  great  use  of  the  Vermont  nulli- 
fication.    Combinations  to  use  no  northern  goods,  &c.,  are  more 
rife  than  I  had  thought.     From  numbers,  however,  I  heard  the 
remark,    that  slavery  could  not  abide  safely  in  Virginia  as  a, 
frontier  State— that  its  doom  was  fixed,  &c.     I  fell  in  with  South 

Carolina  people,  and  (at  Richmond)  with  B ,  on  return  from 

South  Carolina.  There  the  state  of  things  is  very  different,  for 
they  not  merely  look  on  secession  as  a  possible  evil,  'but 
pray  for  it  as  a  real  good.  Northern  mechanics,  agents,  and 
operatives  are  rapidly  leaving  the  State.  The  fear  in  Viro-inia 
among  sober  people,  is,  that  South  Carolina  will  do  some  "'rash 
act  which  will  draw  forth  a  large  number  of  Southern  States  to 
sustam  or  shield  her.  I  am  convinced,  from  numerous  conversa- 
tions with  leading  men,  that  the  repeal  of  the  Territorial  Law 
would  throw  Eastern  Virginia  into  the  arms  of  the  South  and 
furthermore  divide  the  State.  After  all  I  had  read  in  the  papers 
I  was  unprepared  for  the  solemn  views  taken  by  good  men  of  the 
crisis.  All  seem  to  regard  bloodshed  as  the  inevitable  result. 
I  stopped,  going  and  coming,  at  Richmond,  where  I  found  Judo-e 
Cabell  on  his  death-bed,  as  I  fear ;  he  is  an  old  friend  of  my 
father,  and  one  year  his  junior.  At  this  season  the  flow  of  old 
Virgmia  good-fellowship  was  peculiarly  delightful  to  me.  I  was 
almost  surfeited  with  good  things,  and  almost  choked  with  end- 

of  Jirginia,  during  the  sessiou  of  1850-51.  Dr.  Alexander's  Discourse  was 
clehvered  December  8.  Its  subject  was  "  The  Character  of  Christ,"  and  is 
printed  in  the  volume  embracing  the  whole  course,  published  by  Carters, 
JNew  York,  1852. 


128    WHILE  PROFESSOR  m  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

less  parlance.  There  is  soon  to  be  a  railway  from  Alexandria  to 
Gordonsville,  by  which  I  should  be  able  to  reach  Charlottesville 
in  two  days.  Other  roads  are  in  construction.  The  travelling 
on  those  I  used  is  greatly  better  than  formerly.  From  Freder- 
icksburg to  Richmond  decidedly  more  comfortable  than  between 
Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  the  scuffles  for  luggage  are  lessen- 
ed, and  the  ease  of  sitting  increased. 

I  find  all  as  well  as  usual.  I  am  struck  all  of  a  heap  by  the 
news  from  New  York.'  What  Providence  means  I  am  at  a  loss 
to  say.  Surely  I  have  done  nothing  I  know  of,  to  invite  a  re-call 
to  Duane  Street.  What  moves  me  somewhat  is,  (1,)  I  do  not 
feel  a  special  quality  for  teaching :  (2,)  I  greatly  miss  pulpit  and 
pastoral  work.  Yet  when  I  think  of  tearing  up  again— it 
seems  next  to  impossible.  I  am  much  concerned,  and  in  real 
trouble  of  mind,  and  shall  profit  by  any  unprejudiced  thoughts 
you  have. 

Pkinceton,  December  25,  1850. 
I  wish  you  as  many  Christmases  and  as  happy,  for  you  and 
yours,  as  the  Divine  Disposer  shall  give  in  token  of  love ;  for 
as  I  grow  older,  I  trust  I  sometimes  look  forward  to  something 
better  than  the  years  of  this  world.     The  nuynber  of  persons  sub- 
scribing for  the  new  church  is  rather  favourable.      The  place 
talked  of  is  Fifth  Avenue  and  Nineteenth  street.     I  am  puzzled 
and  darkened  by  conflicting  opinions.     There  are  some  who  will 
charge  me  with  great  fickleness,  if  I  leave  Princeton  so  soon. 
The  Philadelphia  men  will  generally  think  it  a  wild  and  wrong 
move.    My  father  and  family  think  I  had  better  go,  on  the  score  of 
health  ;  and  it  is  especially  my  father's  opinion,  that  the  measure 
of  talent  1  have  is  for  preaching.     It  would  not  be  exactly  like  a 
new  experiment.     The  people  calling  know  me,  and  are  known 
by  me.     The  recent  move  reveals  an  amount  of  influence  on  the 
New  York   mind,  which  (however  unmerited)  deserves  to  be 
considered.     I  was  very  happy  in  my  work,  and  (if  I  may  pre- 
sume to  say  so)  was  improving  in  it,  more  than  I  feel  myself  to 
be  doing  in  my  teaching-function.     These  are  things  I  cannot  say 
abroad,"but  they  affect  my  mind  not  a  little.     Per  contra,  I  have 
the  New  York  hum  and  interruption;  New  Y^ork  summers; 
leaving  a  delightful  home  and  rural  quietude,  and  academic  regu- 
larity, and  above  all  my  dear  old  flither  and  mother,  whose 
decline  I  should  covet  to  wait  upon.    These,  however,  are,  for  the 

^  A  proposal  from  the  Duane  Street  congregation  to  build  a  new  church 
on  a  better  site,  provided  Dr.  Alexander  would  accept  a  call  to  be  the  pas- 
tor. Subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  $38,000  were  already  made,  and 
$32,000  offered  for  the  Duane  Street  premises. 


1819—1851.  129 

most  part,  ivorldly  considerations  ;  while  I  am  impressed  by  the 
thought,  that  many  of  the  reasons  for  return  are  spiritual  in 
their"^  nature.     People  say,  "  You  can  preach  every  Sunday  in 
Princeton."     So  I  can— but  what  a  different  thing  it  is  !     I  feel 
lifeless  in  comparison.      1  make  no  new  sermons.      Indeed,  I 
hardly  can  take  my  present  preaching  into  the  account.'     The 
true  comparison  must  be  between  teaching  here,  and  2)^'€achinr/ 
there.     Looking  as  modestly  and  honestly  at  it  as  I  can,  I  feel 
(comparatively)  some  aptitude  for  preaching ;  at  least,  I  have  a 
most   undeserved    acceptance — and    that    particularly   in   New 
York:  I  feel  no  special  aptitude  for  teaching.     In  the  city  I 
drew  young  men  around  me :  here,  all  my  efforts  have  failed 
with  the  students,  privately  and  socially  :  the  difference  I  can- 
not express  to  you  ;  nor  is  it  a  matter  I  can  discuss  with  people 
generally.     I  know  the  matter  of  health  is  very  uncertain,  and 
the  causes  of  health  and  disease  are  obscure :  but  I  think  the  four 
to  five  years  in  New  York  were  of  as  much  health,  certainly  they 
were  of  as  much  working-strength,  as  any  similar  portion  of  my 
life.     As  you  might  suppose,  the  matter  is  constantly  in  my 
thoughts,  and  I  earnestly  seek  Divine  leading ;  for  1  know  that 
my  decision  must  be  reviewed  in  the  Judgment,  and  that  if  I 
determine  on  worldly  and  selfish  grounds,  I  must  expect  a  blight 
if  not  a  curse.     I  wish  to  settle  this  question  before  many  days. 
My  brother  Samuel  has  accepted  the  call  to  Freehold.     What 
a  happy  knack  at  speech-making  Sir  H.  Bulwer  has  !     Young 
Mr.  Beers  sent  me  some  water  from  the  Dead  Sea,  and  some 
olive-wood  from  Jerusalem  ;  I  previously  had  some  olive-leaves 
from  Gethsemane,  and  some  salts  from  Marah.     This  is  almost 
enough  to  fill  a  reliquarium. 

Princeton,  January  6,  1851. 
We  are  mercifully  preserved  ;  yet  I  am  scarcely  ever  without 
cough  this  winter.  '  Exposed  as  I  was  during  my  journey, 
[to  Virginia  in  December,]  I  had  a  respite  then.  They  talk  of 
sending°me  to  Europe.'  From  my  imo  pectore,  I  say,  I  have  no 
wish  to  go.  Perhaps  it  might  be  good  for  my  health.  The  im- 
pulse to  write  sermons  has  come  over  me  very  strong,  and  I  have 
two  half  done.  There  is  no  employment  I  ever  found  so  uniform- 
ly agreeable.  It  looks  as  if  we  never  should  have  a  cisalpine 
Assembly  again.'     How  different  from  the  days  when  we  used 

^  In  1849  he  preached  80  times ;  in  1850,  49  times. 

"  He  had  signified  his  willingness  to  accede  to  the  New  1  ork  call,  and 
resigned  his  profelsorship  in  the  following  February,  but  continued  to  act 
until  April  30.  It  was  also  determined  that  he  should  take  a  voyage  belore 
entering  upon  his  new  duties. 

^  The  Assembly  of  1851  met  in  St.  Louis,  that  of  1852  in  Charleston. 

VOL.  II. — 6* 


130     WHILE  PEOFESSOE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINAKT. 

to  see  the  leaders  of  the  church  in  the  long  pulpit  of  old  "  Mar- 
ket Street."  ^  If  they  set  up  a  clieap  paper,  they  will  doubtless 
centre  it  somewhere  in  the  West.  Dr.  Lindsly  is  about  remov- 
ing to  New  Albany.  I  have  peculiar  pleasure  in  A.  A.  Hodge's 
unanimous  call  to  Kirkwood,  [Maryland.]  [Rev.  William  H.] 
Eilflher  preached  yesterday  at  Penn  Square.^  Gough  is  less 
talked  of  than  formerly  ;  I  should  like  to  hear  him  again  ;  it  is 
a  great  treat.  I  should  have  had  no  scruple  about  hearing 
[Jenny]  Lind,  though  I  suffer  no  regrets,  and  my  appetency  was 
not  strong  ;  I  was  in  New  York  one  night  that  she  sang,  also  at 
Jones's  Hotel,  Philadelphia,  with  her,  and  again  in  Baltimore. 
I  believe  all  our  cloth  went  in  New  York.  A  happy  New  Year 
to  you  all  from  us  all. 

Pkikceton,  January  23,  185L 

I  hardly  know  how  to  speak  of 's  death.     It  came  on  us 

like  a  thunderbolt.  The  agonizing  thought,  when  such  an  event 
occurs,  is.  Perhaps  I  might  have  saved  a  soul  from  death  !  What 
plainness,  labour,  and  earnestness  it  ought  to  give  us  in  preaching  ! 


PrjNCETON,  March  Y,  1851. 
I  think  if  I  am  favoured  with  a  safe  arrival  at  Paris,  I  shall 

prefer  Walsh  to ,  Avith  or  without  the  fasces.^     My  present 

hope  is  to  go  by  steamer,  about  May  15.  You  have  fair  notice 
to  have  your  trunk  packed,  your  supply  engaged,  your  French 
overhauled,  &c.  The  architects  begin  to  visit  me,  and  I  feel  my 
utter  impotcncy,  in  judging  of  plans  and  styles.  I  wish  a  lot 
could  be  used  to  settle  it.  You  express  just  my  views  of  biog- 
raphy. How  much  of  the  Bible  is  history  ;  and  how  much  of 
the  history  is  biography.  No  other  reading  so  much  shows  me 
to  myself,  or  so  much  stimulates  me.  As  we  grow  .older,  do  we 
not  find  a  pleasure  in  the  lesser  lines  of  character  ?  seeing  differ- 
ences which  formerly  did  not  strike  us ;  just  as  we  learn  to 
detect  handwritings,  which  to  children  are  all  alike,  and  to  idiotce 
are  unmeaning.  If  a  botanist  loves  to  collate  flowers,  how  much 
more,  &c.,  &;c.  I  will  borrow  for  you  the  Life  of  good  old  Ben- 
gel,  which  will  much  please  you.  N.  B.  To  introduce  into  our 
sermons  more  biography ;  I  mean  detailed  pictures  of  characters ; 
not  for  ornament,  but  for  searching — to  hold  the  mirror  up  to  na- 
ture. Models  in  Bible,  Pro  v.  xxxi.  The  Hireling.  Several  sketchy 

^  The  First  Church  of  Philadelphia. 

^  The  Seventh  Church,  Philadelphia,  of  which  he  was  afterwards  the 
pastor. 

^  Mr.  "Walsh  had  been  superseded  in  the  American  Consulate. 


18:1:9—1851.  131 

portraits  in  the  Psalter.  Some  nice  volumes  might  be  made  for 
our  Board,  by  collecting  a  number  of  Christian  biographies. 
Proudfit  is  on  a  History  of  the  Huguenots ;  also  is  about  to 
edit  some  specimens  of  St.  Basil  in  Greek.  Some  of  our  stu- 
dents take  down  all  the  lectures  in  short-hand.  I  tried  a  man 
to-day,  by  reading  aloud  from  a  book  to  him  ;  he  succeeded  well. 
What  an  ignoble  business  this  stopping  of  the  House  of  Refuge 
is,  which  is  attempted  in  our  [New  Jersey]  Assembly.  Dr. 
H.  brings  excellent  accounts  of  Ripley's  doings  in  Burling- 
ton. The  Quaker  body  there  seems  to  be  breaking  to  pieces. 
Burt  is  doing  admirably  w^ell  in  Springfield,  Ohio ;  he  has  a 
Bible-class  of  sixty-five.  At  Williams  College  the  President 
preaches  one  evening  each  week,  and  Prof.  Hopkins  another. 
The  whole  Senior  class  learns  the  Shorter  Catechism,  which  Dr. 
Hopkins  expounds  ;  and  it  is  a  regular  part  of  examination  for 
degrees.  I  wish  I  could  see  a  school  in  which  the  Bible  should 
be  taught  every  day. 

Apropos  :  since  Watts's  Catechisms  went  out,  we  have  had  no 
syllabus  of  Bible  history  to  give  children  and  young  people. 
My  fiither  made  some  attempts,  but  the  way  is  still  open.  Such 
a  book,  going  over  the  2vJiole  narrative,  without  much  remark, 
would  sell  by  thousands.  The  demand  for  such  a  book  would 
continue.  If  this  snow  comes,  which  I  feel  in  the  air,  perhaps  we 
may  have  some  sleighing  yet. 

Princeton,  March  28,  1851. 
If  you  hear  any  thing  about  Walsh,  let  me  know.  I  am  try- 
ing to  brush  up  my  French,  on  which  I  shall  have  to  rely,  upon 
the  Continent.  [Rev.  John]  Lord  begins  a  lecturing  here 
on  Monday.  [Mr.  David]  Lord  proposes  $1,000  in  three 
prizes,  to  be  raffled  for,  by  essays,  pro  and  con,  upon  the  great 
apocalyptic  question.  He  makes  the  rider  of  the  white  horse  to 
be  the  early  preachers ;  and  of  the  red  to  be  prelacy.  He  is 
very  severe  on  Brown's  late  anti-millenarian  book.  Bethune's 
new  church  [Brooklyn]  is  to  have  no  windows  in  the  sides.  The 
"  Union  Committee"  of  New  York  is  doing  a  harm  to  the  public 
conscience,  by  circulating  sermons  and  addresses,  denying  all 
right  of  private  judgment,  on  matters  adjudicated  by  Caesar. 
Dr.  L.  maintains  that  in  matters  properly  civil  we  have 
nothing  for  it  but  to  submit  passively.  Illinois  is  about  making 
all  contracts  with  negroes  void,  besides  forbiddinor  them  the 
State.  Gov.  Young  told  me,  last  week,  that  they  are  migrating 
in  vast  numbers  to  Canada,  for  fear  bf  the  late  law.  It  is  a  won- 
der more  are  not  urged  to  Liberia.  I  will  try  to  send  you 
"  London  Poor  and  London  Labour,"  [by  Mayhew.]     It  is  rich. 


132    WHILE  PEOFESSOR  DT  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINAEY. 

The  modern  German  writers  agree  that  the  James  of  Jerusalem 
was  not  the  surviving  apostle,  but  a  third  of  the  name.  Look 
at  the  places;  you  will  find  it  an  interesting  question.  Schaff 
thinks  he  was  the  son  of  Mary,  one  of  Christ's  "  brethren,"  who 
did  not  believe ;  who  continued  unbelieving  till  Christ's  resur- 
rection ;  so  explaining  what  is  certainly  a  strange  specification, 
1  Cor.  XV.  7,  "  after  that  he  was  seen  of  JaynesP  He  gets  over 
Gal.  i.  19,  by  a  grammatical  turn,  analogous  to  John  xvii.  12, 
''''hut  the  son  of  perdition."  Nevin  seems  to  incline  to  the 
opinion,  that  God  would  have  been  incarnate,  independently  of 
the  entrance  of  sin.  I  have  seen  circulars,  &c.,  showing  that 
the  project  of  bringing  the  Great  Exhibition,  palace  and  all,  to 
Governor's  Island,  in  1852,  is  in  actual  preparation.  Some 
hotel-men  in  New  York  have  subscribed  $5,000  each ;  and  the 
railroad  companies  are  invoked.  The  palace  and  its  freight  will 
cost  8300,000. 

Princeton,  A'pril  15,  1851. 
A  telegraphic  despatch  carried  me,  on  ten  minutes'  warning,  to 
New  York  on  Saturday,  to  see  a  sick  and  bereaved  lady.  I  heard 
a  Methodist  sermon  on  Sunday  morning.  I  was  also  at  Trinity 
Church.  Dr.  Hodges,  on  the  organ,  and  their  choir  of  boys,  I 
found  transcendent.  The  Benedicite  was  chanted  so  as  to  meet 
every  demand  of  my  feelings.  The  service  was  read  by  a  drone. 
It  seems  to  be  their  plan  to  make  it  as  hum-drum  as  possible. 
After  having  submitted  a  number  of  plans  to  me,  my  subscribers 
have  chosen  one  (Draper's)  which  I  have  never  seen.  It  is  said 
to  be  handsome.  Dr.  George  Maclean  is  to  be  my  steamer- 
companion.  He  goes  abroad  for  health,  and  to  see  his  Scotch 
cousins.  Schaff  has  given  me  a  round-robin  to  about  twenty  of 
the  German  great  ones.  I  am  like  to  have  plenty  more  letters 
than  I  can  deliver.  Buskin's  new  book  upon  "  Sheepfolds "  is 
really  an  attack  upon  Puseyism.  It  is  well  worth  reading. 
Schaff  has  published  the  first  volume  of  his  Church  History  in 
German.  It  is  an  enormous  book,  and  will  make  ten  volumes, 
8vo,  at  the  rate  he  has  begun.     It  is  learned  and  moderate. 

Princeton,  Aiyril  30,  1851. 
I  this  day  heard  my  last  recitation.  There  is  something  sad 
in  these  "  Last  Things.'"'  The  African  items  in  the  last  Missionary 
Herald  are  very  exciting.  The  head  of  the  Nile  seems  to  be  in 
sight.  A  number  of  young  blacks  here  are  thinking  of  Liberia. 
A  hint  towards  sermons  :  make  a  sermon,  one  for  each,  on  the 
different  states  and  stages  of  mind  and  character  among  people 
not  converted,  yet  not  altogether  hardened.     JE.  g.  1.  The  occa- 


1S49— 1851.  133 

sionally  awakened.  2.  Those  who  are  already  somewhat  thought- 
ful. 3.  Those  who  have  gone  back.  4,  Those  who  are  deeply 
concerned.  5.  Those  who  are  so  for  the  first  time.  6.  Those 
who  see  obstacles  to  coming  to  Christ.  7.  Those  who  occasion- 
ally hope.  8.  Those  who  are  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  sin, 
&c.,  &c.  I  see  by  Samuel  Davies's  Journal  that  his  return  voy- 
age from  Englanci.  took  him  three  months.  Get  hold  of  a  paper, 
and  read  Sir  Henry  Bulwer's  speech  at  the  St.  George's  dinner 
in  New  York.  It  is  full  of  sparkle.  Hamilton  is  said  to  be  the 
writer  of  the  article  on  Doddridge  in  the  North  British  Review. 
I  wish  this  new  invention  about  spinning  flax  by  steam  could 
come  true  ;  it  would  be  a  death-blow  to  cotton-slavery.  Our 
anomalous  political  state,  as  to  this  question,  seems  to  offer  no 
light  in  the  future.  I  pity  the  poor  free  negroes  from  my  heart ; 
and  wish  we  had  taken  a  more  generous  course  in  regard  to 
their  church  accommodation. 

Princeton,  Hay  16,  1851. 
The  time  is  fast  approaching,  w^hen  I  must  again  cease  to 
begin  my  letters  with  the  formula  at  the  top  of  this  page.  For 
some  days  I  shall  be  a  good  deal  occupied,  and  not  much  in 
writing-humour.  With  a  blessing  on  my  w\ays,  I  Avill  write  as 
often  as  I  can  from  the  other  side.  Yesterday  I  went  on  board, 
and  surveyed  my  quarters.  The  affair  is  colossal.  I  do  not 
mean  the  state-room,  which,  nevertheless,  is  more  roomy  than  I 
had  imagined.  I  shall  probably  leave  this  place  on  Friday 
morning.  Dr.  George  Maclean,  my  chum,  has  arrived.  Dr. 
Potts  (who  is  a  judge)  says  he  never  knew  the  power  and  rich- 
ness of  the  human  voice,  till  he  heard  the  Greek  priests  chant  at 
Moscow.  I  am  recalling  my  "  twenty  pence  is  one  and  eight- 
pence,"  and  trying  to  compare  pounds  and  guineas,  &c.  After 
lucubrating  awhile  over  my  French,  I  resolved  to  go  on  the 
"  crescit  eundo  "  plan.  When  speaking  on  the  Paris  platform, 
I  must  endeavour  not,  like  a  great  preacher,  to  eulogize  eau  de  vie 
instead  of  Veau  de  la  vie.  Fearful  prognostications  have  I  of 
sea-sickness,  which  I  almost  had,  by  way  of  rehearsal,  on 
descending  into  "  the  sides  of  the  ship,"  and  sniffing  the  school- 
house  smell  of  the  snuggeries.  It  seems  a  sardonic  mockery  to 
have  such  spacious,  sumptuous  saloons,  all  plush,  gold,  panel, 
paintings,  mirror,  damask,  &c.  Let  your  thoughts  be  sometimes 
on  me  and  mine,  and  mine  will  on  you  and  yours.  I  get  more 
and  more  repugnant  to  my  voyage  as  the  time  approaches.  We 
are  likely  to  have  300  j)assengers. 


CHAPTEE   XI. 

LETTERS    DURING    HIS    FIRST    VISIT    TO    EUROPE. 

1851. 

Off  Cape  Clear,  June  3,  1851.^ 
Through  God's  mercy  I  am  here  on  the  Irish  coast,  in  our 
eleventh  day.  It  has  been  a  perpetual  delight,  without  accident, 
hinderance,  or  "  evil  occurrent ;  "  without  pain,  alarm,  sea-sickness, 
languor,  low  spirits,  or  weariness  ;  with  as  delightful  a  company 
as  ever  was  thrown  together,  with  sumptuous  entertainment  in  a 
floating  palace.  Will  you  believe  it— our  141  passengers  have 
been  like  a  loving  family.  Since  the  25th  we  have  had  solemn 
and  delightful  worship  every  night,  and  services  both  Sabbaths. 
On  eacli'  I  preached  once.  I  suppose  we  sang  forty  complete 
hymns  on  Sunday  night.  Mr.  Tupper  and  Dr.  Miitter'  have 
won  my  everlasting  thanks  and  regard  for  the  bold  and  noble 
manner  in  Avhich  they  came  out  for  religion.  Tupper  sets  the 
tune  at  worship. 

All  my  anticipations  of  the  Atlantic  have  thus  far  been  more 
than  realized.  I  have  seen  a  whale  and  a  paper-nautilus,  and 
several  icebergs.  The  ship-people =140,  of  Avhom  seventy  are 
connected  with  the  steam.  We  burn  seventy  tons  of  coal  a  day, 
and  sixteen  men  are  employed  feeding  our  fourteen  furnaces. 

^  Dr.  Alexander  embarked  in  the  steamer  Arctic,  Captain  Luce,  at  New- 
York,  on  the  24th  May,  1851.  In  filling  up  this  chapter  I  have  not  been 
limited  to  the  letters  addressed  to  myself,  but  have  also  had  the  use  of  those 
addressed  to  different  members  of  his  family.  It  was  indeed  the  plan  of  his 
correspondence,  that  what  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends  should  be  cir- 
culated among  the  rest,  and  then  collected  as  the  journal  of  his  tour. 
Several  other  letters  were  addressed  by  him,  during  his  journey,  to  the 
editors  of  "  The  Dresbyterian,"  Philadelphia.  I  should  add  that  what  is 
given  in  this  chapter  is  but  a  meagre  selection  from  the  materials. 

2  Mr.  Martin  F.  Tupper,  author  of  "  Proverbial  Philosophy,"  and  the 
late  Professor  Milttcr,  of  the  Jefferson  Medical  School  of  Philadelphia. 


1851.  135 

Think  of  its  being  daylight  here  at  2  A.  M.  !  On  the  "banks 
of  NewfoundLand  we  had  fire,  and  slept  under  full  winter  cover 
ing.  Mr.  Tupper  is  the  most  merry,  open-hearted  creature  in 
the  world,  and  fraught  with  classical  learning.  I  have  his  auto- 
graph of  his  own  proverb  :  "  A  babe  in  the  house  is  a  well- 
spring  of  happiness." 

Jiine  4. — I  just  now  had  the  first  glimpse  of  Britain ;  it  is 
Bardsey  Island,*  in  Caernarvon.  Beautiful  clearness  of  atmos- 
phere. The  blue  sea  has  become  green  in  soundings,  but^  we 
have  the  gray  heaven  of  England  and  not  an  American 
azure. 

I  have  had  frequent  opportunities  of  religious  exhortation, 
and  was  never  more  blessed,  than  on  this  voyage,  with  willing 
ears.  I  am  sorry  to  say  my  health  was  publicly  drunk  at  the 
closing  dinner  on  board,  "  for  his  services  as  chaplain."  Tupper 
made  a  speech,  and  various  poems  were  recited. 

Liverpool,  June  4,  1851. 

My  first  step  in  England !  We  were  half  a  day  getting 
through  the  customs.  They  even  dutied  my  sermons.  The 
weather  is  smoky,  muggy,  and  cold,  about  like  our  March,  with- 
out any  keenness.  Eor  the  first  time  I  see  beautiful  hawthorn 
blooms,  both  white  and  red.  Liverpool  buildings  are  high,_solid, 
massive,  every  thing  on  a  scale  of  majestic  strength,  without 
beauty. 

On  the  6th  we  go  up  to  London  with  Dr.  Miitter,  who  has 
been  several  times  abroad,  and  is  acquainted  with  several  of 
the  chief  nobility  and  clergy.  Mr.  Tupper  has  given  me  some 
valuable  letters,  and  offers  to  present  me  to  the  Presbyterian 
Duke  of  Argyll.  The  beauty  of  the  rural  environs  surpasses 
all  my  imagination.  Every  charm  of  verdure,  birds,  flowers, 
and  luxurious  landscape-gardening,  appears  in  this  spring-like 
weather.  Americans  meet  us,  almost  literally,  at  every  corner. 
I  suppose  we  have  fifty  in  this  house,  (Adelphi.) 

London,  June  6,  1851. 
The  season  is  transcendent.  How  can  I  ever  describe  the 
fairy-land  we  have  come  through  this  day  !  I  had  fancied  much, 
but  it  is  nothing  to  the  reality.  Green,  green,  green  !  Such 
green  as  I  never  thought  of,  bathed  in  an  atmosphere  of  deli- 
cious moisture,  a  playful  mixture  of  tiny  rains  and  sunshine. 
Castles,  parks,  hedgerows,  rivers,  Trent  and  Avon,  Cowper's 
birthplace  and  scenes,  cottages,  rookeries,  larks.  Some  parts  of 
Warwick,  Herts,  and  Nottingham,  with  the  approaches  by 
Harrow,  are  like  one's  dreams  of  Eden.     We  were  ten  in  party, 


136  DURING   HIS   FIRST   VISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

all  friends,  Americans ;  and  all  day  no  foot  entered  our  (railway) 
carriage  but  our  own.  The  order,  the  ease,  the  respectfulness 
are  marvellous.  I  have  not  in  several  days  seen  a  moment  of 
hurry. 

The  climate  is  wet  hut  lovely.  You  can  walk  all  day.  The 
sun  seems  to  be  under  a  fender.  I  have  walked  miles  to-day  in 
my  great  coat,  and  been  in  half  a  dozen  rains  ;  but  the  rain 
seems  to  be  playing,  and  sometimes  stops  before  you  raise  an 
umbrella. 

LoxDON,  Jane  8,  1851. 

Where  should  a  man  go  on  "Whitsunday  but  to  St.  Paul's  % 
I  fancy  half  the  auditory  was  American.  The  nave  is  boxed  up 
for  approaching  fete  of  charity  children.  Service  in  the  choir. 
Every  thing  chanted.  I  place  it  clearly  at  the  top  of  all  music 
I  ever  heard.  The  voice  of  the  bassos  and  of  the  trained  boys, 
the  organ,  the  modulation,  and  the  universal  enunciation,  surpass 
my  highest  dream  of  church-music.  Milman  preached.  Large 
parts  of  antiphonal  song  from  invisibles  in  loft.  I  could  not, 
by  search,  see  one  man  or  boy  among  the  surplices  who  listened 
to  one  word  of  the  sermon.  After  singing  like  angels  (I  never 
heard  such  voices)  the  dogs  would  sit  in  their  high  oaken  stalls, 
and  play  all  manner  of  pranks. 

i'or  an  omnibus  had  to  go  down  to  Bank.  My  heart  went 
pit-a-pat  at  the  corner-names :  Bread  street,  Poultry,  Cornhill, 
St.  Swithin's,  Easteheap.  Chat  with  six  policemen,  seventeen 
yesterday  ;  all  the  same — polite,  even  benignant ;  4,000  now 
in  London.  I  have  never  foiled  to  say  I  was  American.  Effect 
all  the  same — overflowing  kindness,  with  abject  ignorance  of  the 
United  States.  Birds  sing  by  hundreds  in  these  parks.  One  is 
always  near  a  friendly,  guide  in  the  police.  They  never  tire,  and 
especially  aid  foreigners.  The  placards  show  a  great  prevalence 
of  religious  aflairs.  Sermons  advertised  in  all  languages.  Old 
London  rises  before  me,  where  I  see  the  Tower,  Billingsgate, 
Lambeth,  Old  Jewry,  and  Upper  Thames  street.  I  love  to  lose 
myself  in  the  culs-de-sac  and  inn-yards  opening  in  Cheapside  and 
Aldcrso-ate  street. 

Our  hotel  (Euston)  is  at  the  terminus  of  the  North- Western 
Eailway.  There  are  indeed  two  of  them,  quite  alike,  with  a 
jylace  between  them.  No  bar.  Large  coffee-rooms,  columns, 
curtains,  head-waiter  like  a  clergyman,  speaks  French  and  Span- 
ish ;  no  loud  s}llable  spoken ;  tables  far  apart.  Sj)arrows 
numerous  in  our  court,  which  is  clean  as  a  parlour.  1  heard 
Dr.  Hamilton  at  64-  P.  ]\f.  Mean,  large  church.  Like  every 
minister   here,   he   has   trimmed   whiskers.     Gown   and   band. 


1851.  137 

Subject :  Eternity  of  hell-torments.  Able,  faithful,  tender, 
original,  and  not  flowing.  Voice  gentle,  but  intonation  posi- 
tively shocking.  No  gesture  but  with  head  and  body.  Voice 
dropped  on  every  cadence,  several  notes  lower  than  the  expected 
one,  with  an  efiect  that  is  horrible.  Deep  solemnity  in  people, 
as  much  as  in  any  revival.  Precentor.  All  sing,  but  hideously. 
People  all  sit  down  a  minute  after  blessing,  which  is  delightful. 
Alms  at  the  door. 

Nothing  so  amazes  me  as  the  order  of  the  streets.  Even  by 
the  river-stairs  and  in  Southwark,  no  fuss,  no  groups  of  b'hoys, 
nothing  like  loud  laughter.  Indeed  the  policemen,  with  their 
handsome  uniform,  are  everywhere ;  as  grave  as  clergymen,  and 
constantly  helping  some  one.  Around  the  Crystal  Palace  for 
some  squares,  no  one  is  allow^ed  to  stop  and  chat,  but  the  notice 
is  given  thus :  "  Excuse  me.  Sir ;  I  have  indulged  you  as  long  as 
my  orders  allow  ;  you  w^ill  find  it  agreeable  to  walk  on."  Com- 
mon people  all  say  cowld  for  cold.  Everybody  says  ^ouse, 
believm^nnd^bus.  If  you  want  a  cabman  you  hollow  A'ci  /  In 
Liverpool  I  had  my  watch,  once  my  father's,  set  to  English  time 
at  the  shop  where  it  was  made,  as  the  number  (6,900)  showed, 
in  1804 ;  they  now  number  59,000  and  odd.  Everybody  ex- 
presses assent  by  "  quite  so,"  and  no  sentence  seems  complete 
without  "  you  know,"  (naoiv.)  All  w^ords  like  "  member," 
"  waiter  "  are  almost  spondees,  "  waitarr."  "  Hear  "  and  "  year  " 
are  "  hyurr  "  and  "  yurr."  The  favourite  drink  is  'alf-and-'alf,  or 
ale  and  porter.  The  bell  is  always  answered  by  a  chambermaid, 
a  comely  person  in  a  cap. 

On  the  7th  I  w^as  in  Westminster,  and  surveyed  the  courts  of 
law.  In  Chancery,  Lord  Truro,  snifting  camphor  or  the  like,  as 
if  sick.  In  Vice  Chancellor's  court.  Sir  J.  Knight  Bruce  sitting. 
In  Queen's  Bench,  Lord  Campbell,  Sir  J.  T.  Coleridge,  &c. 
Lawyers  crowded  in  pews,  like  people  in  church.  The  wigs 
looked  like  making  fun.  The  gow^n  and  band  were  becoming. 
The  queues  of  the  barristers'  wigs  like  floured  rat-tails. 

LoNDOX,  142  Strand;  June  10,  1851. 
This  is  in  Old  London,  the  only  London  that  I  care  for.  I 
have  had  a  couple  of  good  days,  one  at  Greenwich  Fair  and 
hospital,  and  one  at  Windsor  and  Eton.  ;My  whole  day-light  I 
spend,  rain  or  shine,  (mostly  rain,)  on  the  tops  of  omnibuses.  In 
my  opinion  a  lady  might  journey  all  over  rail-road-England,  with 
as  much  safety  as  she  could  go  from  Trenton  to  Princeton.  In 
the  carriages  all  is  exactly  as  if  you  w^ere  in  your  private  coach. 
No  passing  through.  No  outcry ;  the  w^hole  mien  that  of 
genteel,  deferential  servants. 


138 


DURING   HIS   FIEST   TISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 


I  attended  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibition  for  the  first  time  to- 
day.    I  was  chiefly  attracted  by  the  Fine  Art  department.     The 
sculptures  are  innumerable.     The  only  ones  which  greatly  im- 
pressed me,  were  Italian,  but  placed,  alas  !    under  the  sign  of 
''  Austria."     A  number  of  fine  ladies,  perhaps  noble,  were  try- 
ing to  lift  a  little  boy  up  to  see  the  great  diamond.     I  gave  my 
place  and  offered  to  hold  him.     The  lady  looked  surprised — such 
things  are  not  done  here — but  when  I  said  "  I  have  such  another 
3,000  miles  from  here,"  she  complied  and  thanked  me  with  much 
grace.     No  respect  is  shown  to  sex.     No  one  gives  place  to  a 
lady  as  such.     There  is  great  respect,  however,  to  every  one  in 
public,  for  they  do  not  know  but  the  man  in  plain  dress  is  a  lord. 
The  beautiful  skin  and  teeth  of  all  classes,  except  artisans,  keeps 
me  admiring.     The  gray  hair,  even  of  quite  young  ladies,  is 
universally  exposed.     It  strikes  you,  when  you  see  it  repeated 
among  ten  thousand.     AYhitsun  holidays  have  brought  the  pro- 
vincials in  by  shoals.     You  would  laugh  to  see  vans,  or  long  and 
wide  cars,  crammed  full  of  rosy  lads  and  lasses,  perhaps  thirty 
in  one,  riding  twenty  and  thirty  miles  for  sixpence.     My  Vir- 
ginia friends  agree  that  they  never  saw  such  horses  as  came  up 
to  London.     They  are  like  elephants  in  the  brewers'  drays.     I 
understand  better  now  what  Dickens  and  the  Earl   of  Carlisle 
mean^  by  calling  the  Americans  a  c/rave  people.     At  these  fi^tes 
of  AYhitsun-week  the  whole  bourgeoisie  seem  to  be  pleasurino-, 
all  on  a  broad  grin,  all  gratified,  and  without  strong  drink  or  any 
rowdyism.     Nurses  and  young  mothers,  with  little  children,  go 
seven  miles  by  water,  and  stay  all  day  amidst  thousands.     Every 
time  I  lift  my  eyes  from  this  paper,  I  see  St.  Paul's.     I  blame 
myself   for   contemniug   St.    Paul's.       How  gloriously  it  pre- 
dominates over  every  part  of  the  city  !     Temple  Bar  and  Char- 
ing   Cross  are  pleasantly  near.     I  have  seen  the  paintings  at 
Hampton.     You  know  my  peculiarity  as  to  portraits  ;  but  these 
are  the  men  themselves,  as  they  lived  and  moved.     Corregio's 
enchanted  me  more  than  any  before  I  knew  they  were  his.    "The 
very  clocks  and  furniture  of  1536  are  at  Hampton.     The  horse 
guards  passed  me  to  barracks,  in  Hyde  Park,  in  the  rain,  cloaked, 
and  each  leading  a  second  horse.     There  are  always  two  regi- 
ments on  duty,  picked  men,  six  feet  high.     They  are  just  as 
polite  as  the  police.     Every  common  man  I  have  talked  with, 
wishes  to  go  to  America.   "^The  last  cad  that  took  my  sixpence 
asked  me  "  is  not  New  York  in  Philadelphia  ?  "     Another,  when 
I  said  I  was  a  foreigner,  said  :  "  Ay  !  you  must  be  talkin'  hyper- 
bolical.    I  suppose  you  know  the  meaning  of  the  word ;"  you 
may  be  a  furriner  to  London,  but  you're  an  Englishman  born." 

Windsor   Castle   covers   thirty-two   acres.     The  park    (see 


1851.  139 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream)  looks  endless.  Green,  green,  green, 
velvet,  emerald,  no  break  in  the  verdure — a  prairie  covered  with 
trees,  such  as  you  have  often  heard  described.  One  broad  avenue 
of  oaks  and  elms  reaches  three  miles.  My  first  rapture  in  a 
Gothic  edifice  Avas  in  St.  George's  Chapel.  All  words  must  fail  to 
express  its  awful  beauty  ;  no  gloom,  no  sombre  colours,  all 
bright  from  the  cream-coloured  stone  columns  and  arches,  rising 
into  vaults  of  fearful  grace.  In  the  church  is  the  group  of  statu- 
ary forming  a  monument  to  the  Princess  Charlotte.  The  grief 
expressed  by  the  veiled,  prostrate,  dishevelled  creatures,  makes 
me  shudder  when  I  recall  it. 

I  next  went  across  to  Eton.  These  little  old  towns  are  in- 
describable. High  street  is  a  place  to  dream  of.  Nobody  ever 
told  me  how  pure  and  clear  and  wide  the  streets  were,  nor  how 
low  were  the  houses,  nor  how  nice,  quaint,  cheerful,  and  roguish- 
looking.  Some  breathe  the  very  spirit  of  Chaucer.  Then  the 
College  !  I  cannot  express  how  my  musings  went  back,  in  those 
cloisters.  The  trees,  the  pavements,  the  Master's  (Hawtrey's) 
house,  with  comical  gables  peeping  out  of  the. deep  green ;  the 
boats  in  great  numbers  on  the  sweet  narrow  Thames,  rowed  by 
the  boys,  the  cricketers  with  gowns  and  coats  thrown  off. 

England  is  a  more  flowery  country  than  I  thought.  The 
roadsides  are  besprinkled  with  endless  bloom,  often  as  much  so 
as  any  garden  walk.  The  green  is  so  dense  that  girls  at  work 
in  fields  sometimes  seem  as  if  in  waves  of  a  river.  Ancient 
footpaths  wind  far  away  where  there  is  no  high  road,  gravelled 
and  even  paved. 

London,  June  13,  1851. 

Last  night  I  went  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  heard 
Cobden,  Hume,  Baring,  Admiral  Berkeley,  &c.  All  spoke 
alike :  all  had  a  stammer,  save  Cobden ;  all  colloquial,  rapid 
and  sometimes  funny.  The  noise  was  tremendous.  I  had  no 
notion  before  of  the  ironical  cheers,  which  are  a  yaw-yawing  you 
would  hardly  distinguish  from  dogs.  I  am  not  desirous  to  go 
again. 

After  all  my  study  of  the  localities,  I  can  hardly  believe  my 
eyes.  Such  dark,  dim,  tall,  narrow,  winding  ways — plainly  just 
so  for  ages.  Here  is  Watling  street,  part  of  an  old  Celtic  road 
all  across  Britain.  The  places  are  redolent  of  Saxon  times. 
Buy  Cock  Eobin  at  Newberry's  Corner.  Newberry  has  been 
dead  sixty  years.  Peep  into  yards  of  old  inns.  Heavy  carts 
of  country  carriers  and  broad  dialect.  I  j^ushed  into  Doctors' 
Commons,  and  had  a  dozen  touching  their  hats  and  offering  to 
find  a  proctor  for  me,  to  show  me  the  cells  of  the  wills,  &c. 


140  DTJEING   HIS   FIEST   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

Serjeant's  Inn  is  another  close.  But  the  most  awakening  is  the 
Temple,  Middle  and  Inner,  which  surprises  me  by  its  insulation, 
retirement,  and  sweetness.     Templars  here  in  1184  ! 

June  14. — [After  visiting  Co  vent  Garden  market,  St.  James' 
Park,  hearing  the  Queen's  hand,  and  seeing  the  Queen  and 
Prince  Albert  pass,  he  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  at  the  Crystal 
Palace.]  I  was  about  to  retire  at  4,  when  I  saw  the  Duke  of 
Wellington.  Exceedingly  trim  in  dress,  new  hat,  white  stock 
with  broad  silver  buckle.  No  greatcoat.  A  handsome  woman 
was  on  his  arm — wife  of  one  of  the  Commissioners.  The  crowd 
stood  off  with  peculiar  delicacy.  The  Duke  turned  into  the 
American  department,  and  stood  half  an  hour,  within  six  feet  of 
me,  listening  to  a  detailed  description  of  Day  and  Newell's  (New 
York)  lock.  He  gave  fixed  attention,  and  asked  some  questions. 
He  is  evidently  the  idol  of  the  people.' 

I  have  three  tickets  to  a  Conversazione  on  the  16th,  signed 
by  the  archdeacon  of  Middlesex,  "  to  afford  foreign  pastors,  and 
other  religious  foreigners,  opportunity  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  clergy  and  such  lay  members  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, as  take  a  special  interest  in  its  affiirs." 

I  had  my  shoes  blacked  in  the  Park  for  one  penny,  by  a  boy 
in  a  blouse,  marked  "Eairged  School  Society  of  Shoeblacks, 
No.  35." 

You  cannot  think  how  deeply  I  was  affected,  when  looking 
over  the  exhibition  in  the  French  department,  to  see  at  a  type- 
founder's platform  the  Chinese  types  of  the  "Presbyterian 
Board  of  Missions,"  especially  as  four  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee are  here  this  moment.^ 

June  16. — I  found  Dr.  Hamilton  at  his  house  in  Gower 
street,  who  received  me  with  indescribable  cordiality.  I  am 
pained  to  think  how  few  there  are  whom  I  have  ever  received 
with  as  much.  He  is  a  tall,  thin,  American-looking  man,  with 
the  gentlest,  sweetest,  most  innocent  manners.  He  gave  me  the 
latest  "  Presbyterian,"  whicli  completes  my  news  anent  the  Pro- 
fessorship, [in  Princeton  Seminary.]     He  gave  me  two  books 

for ,  with  his  autograph.     Then  he  took  me  into  the  next 

room,  and  introduced  me  to  Dr.  Sandberg,  Professor  of  Church 
History  at  the  University  of  Lund,  in  Sweden. 

I  then  proceeded  through  a  maze  of  streets  to  Carlton  Ter- 
race. I  found  No.  9,  and  saw  the  arms  of  Prussia  on  the  house 
of  the  Chevalier  Bunsen,  and  entering  found  a  number  of  per- 
sons waiting  in  the  ante-chamber.     The  big-legged  footman,  in 


^  The  Duke  died  on  that  day  fifteen  months. 

2  Dr.  Jacobus,  Mr.  Lenox,  Mr.  Soutter,— I  do  not  know  who  was  the 
fourth. 


1851.  141 

blue  and  gold,  took  my  card  and  instantly  came  back,  taking  me 
in  precedence  of  all  the  rest.  lie  received  me  in  a  long,  lofty 
library-office,  looking  out  on  the  corner  of  St.  James'  Park.  He 
is  a  noble-looking  man,  somewhat  corpulent,  with  a  blue  eye, 
temperate  but  ruddy  skin,  and  fine  teeth.  He  took  me  as  un- 
ceremoniously by  the  hand  as  you  would  have  done,  and  led  me 
rather  gaily  towards  a  sofa,  seating  himelf  at  one  end.  He 
began  at  once  with  great  fluency,  elegance,  and  heart,  in  excellent 
English.  He  had  read  a  letter  which  I  had  placed  in  the  hands 
of  ^Ir.  Kennedy,  respecting  German  emigration.  After  hearing 
me  on  this  topic,  he  entered  on  religious  subjects,  spoke  of  the 
iron  extremes  of  Anglicanism,  and  of  hymnology,  and  presented 
me  with  a  copy  of  his  own  book  of  hymns  and  prayers,  with 
this  inscription,  "  To  Rev.  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander,  as  a  token 
of  Christian  regard.  J.  Bunsen.  Carlton  Terrace,  16  June, 
1851."  Pie  offered  me  letters  to  Germany,  which  I  declined, 
begged  me  to  come  again,  and  kept  me  there  till  a  German,  ap- 
parently of  rank,  came  in.  I  observed  open  at  his  standing  desk 
a  Greek  copy  of  Origen.^  There  is  no  trace  of  stiffness  in  his 
manner,  and  his  reception  of  me  was  not  only  affable  but  loving. 
Tears  stood  in  his  eyes  several  times  during  our  intervieAV.  I 
suppose  he  felt  that  he  could  entirely  unbend  with  a  foreign 
Christian. 

Going  at  random  into  "Westminster  Abbey,  I  found  the 
Bishop  of  London  preaching  before  the  famous  old  Society  for 
Propagating  the  Gospel.  Among  the  first  words  I  heard  were, 
"  the  United  States  of  America."  It  has  been  so  everywhere. 
Our  republic  seems  to  be  perpetually  in  the  mind  of  England. 
I  went  a  second  time  to  Westminster  Hall.  The  speeches  are 
eminently  condensed,  scholarly,  and  colloquial ;  more  of  a  dia- 
logue than  any  thing  known  among  us.  The  barrister  or  solicitor 
is  not  allowed  to  deviate  an  instant.  All  the  English  speak 
alike,  and  almost  all  affect  a  stammer  which  gives  an  odd  em- 
phasis. On  my  return  I  looked  in  at  the  old  Savoy  church,  with 
respectful  remembrance. 

I  am  now  convinced  that  I  must  leave  this  most  noble  of 
cities,  not  only  unlearnt,  but  unvisited  in  a  score  of  most  im- 
portant places.  I  could  this  minute  name  thirty  which  it  would 
take  a  week  barely  to  go  to. 

^  It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Bunsen  was  preparing  bis  Letters  to 
Archdeacon  Hare  on  Hippolytus,  autbor  of  tbe  recently  discovered  book 
ascribed  to  Origen.  The  first  volume  of  his  large  work  on  Hippolytus  did 
not  appear  till  1853. 


142  DUKIXG   HIS   FIRST   VISIT   TO   ETJEOPE. 

Paris,  June  19,  1851. 

We  left  London  at  9^  this  morning,  and  here  we  are  (at 
midnight)  in  Paris,  after  a  journey  of  345  miles.  Feel  the 
climate  to  be  like  that  of  America ;  it  is  from  winter  to  sum- 
mer. The  delightfulness  of  seeing  the  sun  and  feeling  the 
warmth  is  indescribable.  The  ride  through  Picardy  is  flat  and 
monotonous,  but  verdant,  cultivated,  and  delightful.  Sometimes 
thirty  windmills  at  once.  No  fences,  few  hedges,  many  ditches. 
All  roads  and  ditches  lined  with  pollard  trees.  Almost  always 
in  sight  of  a  Norman  church  predominating  over  the  flat  but 
cosy  hamlet.  I  never  saw  any  thing  more  lovely  than  the 
groups  of  villagers  in  the  summer  evening.  Immense  herds  of 
cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep.  Our  way  was  through  forty-six  towns 
and  villages. 

21s A — Hotel  Meurice.  Eight  across  is  the  Garden  of  the 
Tuileries.  The  shade  is  beyond  all  I  ever  dreamt  of:  it  is 
almost  like  night.  There  is  not  a  blade  of  grass,  but  the  ground 
is  baked  and  trodden  hard.  Children  in  any  quantity  in  the 
garden,  with  their  bonnes ;  not  so  chubby  and  cherubic  as  the 
English,  of  whom  also  there  are  many.  I  saw  30,000  men  re- 
viewed by  the  President  [now  Emperor]  in  the  Champ  de 
Mars.  I  was  in  an  open  caleche,  with  Mr.  R.  L.  Stuart.  Louis 
is  not  great-looking,  but  modest  and  soldierly,  and  "  un  bon  cava- 
lier," as  our  driver  said  again  and  again.  Jerome  was  on  his 
left.  The  troops  of  Paris  are  100,000.  There  were  180  drums. 
The  soldiers  singly  look  mean,  but  in  mass  are  incomparably 
fine.  "We  drove  back  along  the  quays,  and  so  across  by  the 
Elysees  and  Place  de  la  Concorde.  This  is  probably  unequalled 
on  earth.  On  one  side  the  Madeleine,  on  the  other  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies.  There  is  no  longer  any  aristocratic  wealth  in 
France.  One-quarter  of  an  hour  in  Hyde  Park  reveals  more 
grandeur  than  all  France  can  show.  The  women  of  Paris  are 
the  ugliest  and  the  prettiest  I  ever  saw.  The  general  impres- 
sion on  me  is,  that  England  is  the  cleanest  and  France  the 
dirtiest  nation  in  the  Avorld. 

June  22. — Lord's  Day,  but  no  Sabbath  in  Paris.  They  were 
painting  this  very  house,  and  tearing  down  buildings  not  flir  ofi; 
All  the  shops  are  open.  It  is  a  great  Romish  feast,  the  Fele- 
Dieu.  As  time  allowed,  I  went  into  the  church  of  St.  ^Mary  of 
Loretto  before  Protestant  service.  It  was  full,  each  paying  two 
sous  for  a  chair.  High  mass.  Various  bands  of  singers,  boys 
and  men.  Processions  round  and  round  witli  the  host.  Perhaps 
fifty  priests,  arrayed  in  purple  and  gold.  Two  beautiful  young 
priests,  in  graceful  white  robes,  with  pink  sashes,  carried  the 
censers.     Four  little  children,  in  same  apparel,  scattered  rose- 


1851.  143 

leaves.  Twenty-four  novices,  girls,  all  in  white,  veiled,  carried 
candles  six  feet  high.  An  orchestra  of  perhaps  fifty  instruments 
on  the  north  side  of  the  choir,  the  leader  making  all  the 
motions,  just  as  in  a  theatre.  The  pyramidal  band  of  priests  at 
the  high-altar,  moved  and  changed  and  turned  and  parted  with 
all  the  complication,  but  with  all  the  regularity  of  a  cotillon. 
The  Gregorian  chant  by  voices  like  Eussell's,  [deep  bass,]  all 
like  one  voice.  I  never  in  all  my  life  felt  such  grief  and  indigna- 
tion at  the  "  man  of  sin."  Architecture,  painting,  and  music, 
here  combine  in  their  highest  point  to  make  Christ's  cross 
nothing  but  a  stupendous  plaything.  The  hundreds  of  tapers, 
and  the  indescribable  gorgeousness  of  the  chasubles,  &c.,  and 
the  wailing,  soul-entrancing  music,  all  belong  to  the  wine  of 
incantation  of  the  scarlet  woman.  ]\Iay  God  destroy  this  Baby- 
lon with  the  brightness  of  his  coming ! 

Thence  to  the  Oratoire.  I  hoped  to  hear  Mr.  Adolphe 
Monod,  but  found  Mr.  Coquerel  in  the  pulpit.  He  is  an 
eloquent  Socinian,  and  a  fine-looking  man.  Text :  "  Who  gave 
himself-  for  us."  Doctrine :  Unity  of  belief  is  impossible ; 
unity  of  morals  is  what  Christ  died  for.  He  is  a  consummate 
orator.  No  notes.  Large,  respectable  assembly.  They  sang 
the  old  Beza-Marot  psalms  to  the  old  tunes.  People  all  stood 
most  reverently  during  prayer. 

June  23.— To  the  National  Assembly.  Saw  Lamartine, 
Cavaignac,  Coquerel,  Leroux,  Berryer,  Odillon  Barrat,  Girardin, 
Lamennais,  and  some  others.  I  never  heard  such  a  noise.  A 
hundred  would  be  talking  as  loud  as  the  orator.  Coming  away 
I  joined  company  with  a  priest.  Told  him  I  was  a  Protestant. 
He  said,  "  N'importe,  monsieur,  vous  etes  Chretien."  He  was 
polite,  as  every  one  is.  No  one  enters  a  cafe  or  an  omnibus 
without  salutation. 

June  21. — One  month  from  home.  It  seems  a  year,  but  a  year 
of  delight.  For  the  first  time  I  can  say  my  cold  is  better. 
Soldiers  have  now  become  as  familiar  as  flies.  Paris  is  more 
like  an  American  city  than  London.  It  is  filthy  and  has  abomi- 
nable stenches.  But  there  are  thousands  of  flowers  and  birds 
here,  which  cannot  be  said  of  any  American  city.  O  what  a 
meeting,  Sunday  evening,  in  the  little  chapel  Oratoire  !  Adolphe 
Monod — "  God  is  Love."  Huguenot  women  in  caps.  Old 
Psalm  (103d) — old  tunes.  It  was  an  hour  to  be  remembered 
for  life. 

Mr.  Eives  gave  me  a  distinguished  reception,  called  in 
23erson,  and  has  written  me  two  notes,  and  given  me  entrance  to 
the  diplomatic  box  at  the  National  Assembly.  Tea  at  Dr. 
Monod's,  with  Bridel,  and  several  others.     Good  Christian  even- 


14:4:  DUEIXG   HIS   FIRST   VISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

ing.  I  conducted  prayers  and  expounded.  I  had  previously 
spent  an  hour  with  Adolphe  Monod.  We  ran  together  like  two 
drops.  I  am  to  be  at  his  soiree  on  26th,  where  perhaps  I  meet 
Ladv  Trotter,  sister  of  the  IMarcliioncss  Normanbv.  All  ranks 
of  evangelical  people  meet  here  like  brothers.  All  ranks  are 
equally  polite.  I  never  hear  or  see  any  thing  in  the  streets 
M'hich  would  be  rude  in  our  parlour.  The  persuasive,  deferential, 
affectionate  tone  of  their  voices,  especially  the  women,  is  sur- 
prising. But  every  one  dreads  an  outbreak,  and  then  they  be- 
come tigers.  Such  flowers  and  fruits  I  never  beheld.  The 
flower-market  near  IMadeleine,  beats  Covent  Garden  hollow. 
The  poorest,  meanest  things  in  Paris,  are  arranged  with  taste.  A 
fruit-window  is  a  perfect  still-life  picture.  A  half  sous  stick  of 
cherries  is  pretty  enough  to  take  home.  You  must  imagine 
what  it  must  be  when  they  lay  themselves  out  to  be  ornamental. 
June  27. — My  days  are  spent  in  rambling, :  for  the  things  I 
want  to  see  differ  from  the  common  sio;hts.  I  have  been  in  the 
principal  churches,  have  heard  masses  enough  to  keep  my  soul 
in  repose  (if  they  have  any  such  virtue)  a  thousand  years,  have 
seen  paintings  till  1  weary  of  them,  have  sought  out  the  burial- 
places  of  some  great  men,  some  Protestant  antiquities  not  com- 
monly visited,  and  have  learned  to  hate  Popery  more  intensely 
than  ever.  At  two  soirees  I  have  good  opportunity  to  scan  the 
customs  of  Parisian  Christians.  I  have  never  seen  any  thing 
more  simply  elegant  or  affectionate.  In  both  instances  Ave  had 
prayers  before  tea.  Last  evening  a  company  of  about  thirty 
united  in  singing  a  hymn,  hearing  chapter,  and  offering  a  prayer 
— all  in  Prench.  I  have  passed  much  time  in  the  Pa^/s  Latin, 
or  region  of  the  old  colleges  and  convents,  and  in  rummaging  the 
antiquities  of  Paris.  When  I  plunge  into  the  oldest,  narrowest 
streets,  &c.,  of  the  Seine,  I  have  most  that  attracts  me.  My 
uniform  method  is  to  hire  a  coupe  and  sit  with  the  driver.  This 
teaches  me  more  French  than  a  week  of  solitary  walking.  Then 
I  make  an  excuse  to  sit  half  an  hour  in  some  cool  shop  and  chat 
in  my  bad  French  with  the  smooth-tongued  Parisians.  I  have 
to-day  visited  with  great  curiosity  the  markets  which  had  escaped 
me.  Strawberries  as  large  as  English  walnuts  are  abundant  for 
money.  Both  in  England  and  Paris  the  most  beautiful  butter 
is  universally  set  before  us  in  pats  about  as  large  as  two  dollars 
laid  together.  No  spot  has  attracted  me  so  much  as  the  Louvre. 
If  it  were  Christian  so  to  do  I  could  spend  hours  there  daily  for 
a  year.  Yet  I  do  not  enjoy  Paris  as  much  as  London.  One  I 
admire,  the  other  I  love.  Except  their  poor,  ignorant  nonsense 
about  slavery,  I  saw  hardly  any  thing  in  England  which  I  did 
not  like. 


1851.  14:5 

Paris,  June  30,  1851. 
Yesterday  was  the  Lord's  day,  the  octave  of  Fete  Dieii,  (Cor- 
pus Christi,)  a  day  specially  devoted  to  the  idolatry  of  the  wafer. 
I  felt  it  my  duty  to  go  to  the  Madeleine  before  worship.     How 
can  I  make  you  conceive  the  worldly  grandeur  and  beauty  !     It 
is  the  o-reatest  of  modern  churches.     It  is  more  beautiful  outside 
than  St.  Peter's.     Conceive  of  a  Greek  temple  of  massy  marble  : 
ima^^es  on  images  by  the  greatest  sculptors,  many  times  as  large 
as  itfe,  all  outside.     Hangings  of  velvet,  purple,  and  gold  be- 
tween the  columns.     Ancient  tapestries  hung  outside  the  walls, 
within  the  vast  pillars.     Inside,  the  smell  of  millions  of  flowers. 
It  is  called  the  fete  des  fieurs.     If  I  saw  one  bouquet  I  saw  ten 
thousand.     You  cannot   imagine   the  art   in   their  disposition. 
The  high  altar  was  so  backed  by  a  forest  of  flowers,  that  the 
sino-ers"^  were   perfectly  concealed.     Scores  of  priests,  deacons, 
boys  in  graceful  albs  with  pink  girdles ;  scores  of  girls  all  veil- 
ed, all  white  for  their  first  communion,  as  they  went  in  proces- 
sion, and  carried   a   rich   bouquet.      The  nuns  and   girls   had 
bouquets  wholly  of  lilies  and  other  white  buds  of  flowers.^    The 
music  was  such  as  I  am  sure  I  shall  never  hear  the  like  of  in  this 
world.     The  vast  area  within  was  filled  with  people. 

From  this  I  went  to  the  poor  little  English  Wesleyan  chapel. 
About  one  hundred  and  fifty  :    about  seventeen  men  :   generally 
servants  and  governesses  of  English  residents  and  visiters.     Ser- 
mon by  Dr.  Ritchie,  a  Wesleyan  of  Canada.     Good  sermon  on 
'•  Behold  the  Lamb."     The  application  of  it  was  such  gospel, 
gospel,  gospel,  that  I  laid  my  head  down  and  almost  dissolved, 
these  things  which  are  daily  bread  in  blessed  America,  are  here 
like  God's "^manna.     The  beauty,  the  grace,  the  extent,  the  glory 
of  these  illuminated  forests,  these  spacious  places,  these  statues, 
buildings,  orderly  crowds,  this  music — a  hundred  orchestras  and 
concerts  every  night  in  open  air— these  things  pass  description, 
and  steal  the  soul  of  the  people  from  God.     Since  the  cities  of 
the  plain,  vice  has  never  had  such  blandishment.     Most,  even  of 
religious  Americans,  forget  all  restraint.     Not  that  I  have  seen 
drunkenness  or  heard  one  profane  word.     All  is  courtesy  and 
hienseance.     The  common  people  have  a  grace  which  reproves 
me  every  instant.     Around  a  puppet-show  or  dancing  dogs,  the 
folk  in  blouses  are  so  polite  and  still ;  they  do  not  even  rub 
against  you  without  a  "  Pardon,  monsieur,"  the  tone  of  which  is 
more  than  the  words.     But  they  are  Godless,  and  at  one  rap  of 
the  drum  (especially  just  now)  are  ready  to  become  simiotigres. 
M.V.  Walsh  has  gone  out  to  St.  Germain-en-Laze.     He  sent 
me  a  most  warm  and  characteristic  letter,  mistaking  me  for 
Addison,  and  went  to  the  Director  of  the  National  (once  Royal) 

VOL.  II. — 7 


146  DURING   HIS   FIRST   VISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

Library,  and  requested  that  I  might  be  introduced  to  the  princi- 
pal Orientalists  of  Paris. 

All  the  time  I  write  I  hear  from  the  large  courts  a  perpetual 
sound  of  French  chat  among  the  servants,  with  that  Parisian 
tune  to  the  words  which  no  foreigner  can  ever  obtain,  but  which  is 
so  cunning  and  musical  and  insinuating,  as  to  reconcile  me  to 
the  sound  of  French. 

Mr.  A.  Monod  is  the  most  remarkable  mixture  of  sweetness 
with  intense  solemnity  I  ever  saw.  Three  months  ago  his 
mother  died  leaving  twelve  living  sons.  All  the  comiexion  seem 
to  be  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

Paris,  July  3,  1851. 

My  first  opening  of  the  lips  was  last  evening  at  the  Wesleyan 
Chapel.  Though  it  rained  I  suppose  a  hundred  and  fifty  w^ere 
out.  Spies  of  this  free  government  are  always  there.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  of  all  my  hours  abroad  I  had  yesterday 
morning  with  I'Abbe  de  Moligny.  Mr.  Walsh  gave  me  a  note 
to  the  Abbe  evidently  as  a  specimen  of  the  most  cultivated 
French  clergyman.  Every  thing  in  his  apartments  was  in  the 
highest  bachelor  taste,  like  a  boudoir.  He  was  all  attention  and 
cleverness ;  showed  me  specimens  of  binding ;  offered  to  take 
me  to  his  bookseller  and  buy  for  me,  w^hich  he  could  do  to  ad- 
vantage. He  alluded  several  times  to  my  being  a  Protestant 
with  much  gracefulness  and  sobriety.  We  talked  of  German 
emigration  and  of  politics. 

I  greatly  wished  to  see  a  religious  house,  and  the  greatest 
Romish  theological  seminary  of  France ;  both  coincide  in  St. 
Sulpice.  Mr.  Walsh  gave  me  a  note  to  Dr.  L.  R.  Delual  at  the 
Seminary,  and  sent  me  a  kind  letter  inviting  me  to-day.  The 
Seminary  has  about  three  hundred  religious,  of  whom  a  hundred 
and  fifty  are  students.  I  was  conducted  to  the  room  of  Father 
Delual  in  the  third  story.  He  began  to  talk  rapidly  in  English, 
and  did  so  for  three  hours.  He  soon  told  me  he  had  lived  thirty- 
two  years  in  Baltimore,  and  was  twenty  years  President  of  St. 
Mary's  College.  He  knew  much  about  Princeton,  Dr.  Miller, 
my  father,  and  Addison.  He  had  a  vivid  recollection  cf  meeting 
Dr.  Hodge  on  the  Delaware  when  he  was  accompanying  the 
archbishop  of  Baltimore  to  embark  for  Rome.  There  are  nearly 
twenty  other  Sulpitian  seminaries  in  France,  all  affiliated  under 
this.  I  was  placed  in  rapi^ort  with  a  number  of  students  in 
different  parts  of  the  cloisters,  and  of  a  beautiful  and  spacious 
terraced  garden  w^ithin  the  wall.  I  visited  the  small  lecture- 
rooms,  which  are  plain  but  full  of  pictures.  There  is  a  series  in 
oil  of  all  the  Popes,  as  he  said,  "  from  St.  Peter  to  Pio  Nono." 


1851.  147 

I  saw  numerous  younger  students  carrying  light  desks  on  their 
heads  to  the  recitations.  They  study  in  their  cells.  They  look 
unhealthy  and  meager.  The  refectory  is  divided  into  two  parts ; 
to  the  right  go  the  valid  ones,  to  the  left  the  invalid.  The 
covers  for  thelatter  must  have  been  thirty.  Each,  as  he  enters 
the  dividing  passage,  takes  from  a  great  pannier  as  much  bread, 
wheat,  or  rye  as  he  needs.  Each  has  his  half  bottle  of  viu  ordi- 
naire at  each  meal.  The  fragments  are  dispersed  to  the  poor  at 
a  side-gate.  The  garden  is  full  of  trees,  gravelled  and  beautiful, 
with  covered  sheds.  The  old  man  joked  paternally  with  those 
he  met.  He  pointed  out  two  who  had  been  "  Presbyterian  min- 
isters in  Scotland."  He  encircled  us  in  his  arms,  saying,  "  All 
three  Presbyterians."  I  replied,  "My  reception  here  is  too 
courteous  for  me  to  engage  in  controversy."  One  of  the  two 
said  to  me,  "We  must  pray  for  jowsit  Notre  Dame  des  Vicioiresy 
I  have  no  iDelief  that  either  of  the  two  was  ever  a  minister.  We 
went  into  the  chapel.  It  is  a  beautiful  building,  the  whole  area 
being  clear.  Oaken  stalls  in  two  rows  along  the  walls  accommo- 
date the  worshippers.  They  never  fairly  sit  except  during  the  epis- 
tle ;  the  rest  of  the  time  they  either  kneel,  or  (turning  the  thick 
oaken  seat  up  by  a  hinge)  rest  on  a  ledge  which  is  called  a 
inisericorde.  There  are  seven  large  paintings,  some  very  fuie, 
by  Lebrun.  One  of  the  Scots  had  a  little  Latin  Testament  in 
his  hand,  and  was  going  to  the  "  Scripture  lesson."  They  are 
mostly  young,  with  much  appearance  of  austerity.  Their  courses 
of  studies  seem  low,  puerile,  and  generally  memoriter.  Dialec- 
tics and  casuistry  form  the  chief  part.  The  surveillance  and 
separation  are  perfect.  All  the  youth  have  tonsure.  Dr.  Delual 
answered  all  my  questions  with  great  promptness,  and  constantly 
presented  me  as  a  Protestant  and  a  Presbyterian.  He  talked 
much  about  revolutionary  atheism,  and  said  the  days  of  Marat 
would  return  if  the  red-republicans  gained  power.  He  added, 
what  I  believe,  that  there  is  a  great  revival  of  ceremony  and  mass- 
o-oino-,  even  among  we/?.  He  is  a  very  venerable  and  even 
elegant  man,  with  a  fresh  complexion,  and  chirping  merriment. 
He  often  quoted  Latin,  but  never  said  any  thing  against  Prot- 
estantism. 

Yesterday  I  was  at  the  College  of  France,  and  had  several 
hours  with  the  celebrated  mathematician  Biot,  who  intrusted  me 
with  several  things  for  America.  He  is  in  his  80th  year  :  yet  I 
have  some  of  his  writing,  done  without  spectacles,  smaller  and 
firmer  than  mine.  He  spoke  of  Peirce,  Henry,  Gould,  Wilkes, 
and  Bache.^ 

On  the  10th  July  Dr.  Alexander  left  Paris  and  reached  Dijon  that  even- 


ing.     On  the  12th  to  Geneva. 


148  DrEmG  ms  first  visit  to  eueope. 

Geneva,  July  12,  1851. 

All  this  clay  we  have  been  in  mountain-raptures ;  but  when 
suddenly,  through  a  near  gap,  the  Alps  burst  on  us,  it  was  so 
different  from  any  forethought  of  mine  that  I  was  relieved  from 
swooning  only  by  tears.  I  am  thankful  to  say  all  my  thought  at 
the  moment  was  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of  heaven.  Though  a 
hundred  miles  off  in  many  parts,  they  were  clear  as  diamond.  I 
was  absolutely  speechless.  I  had  dreamed  of  vast  dimensions, 
and  of  big  mountains  and  chains,  but  this  was  mother-of-pearl, 
azure,  agate,  all  colours,  more  solid  than  granite,  and  looking 
among  the  clouds,  heavenly.  "VVe  all  sank  under  the  religious 
impressions.  The  impression  of  death,  heaven,  and  eternity  is 
unavoidable.  It  has  been  a  means  of  grace  on  the  blessed,  quiet 
Sabbath  in  the  city  of  Bernard,  Calvin,  Farel,  Vinet,  Knox,  Beza, 
and  the  Turretines.  Yet  around  this  lake  lived  Voltaire,  Eous- 
seau,  and  Gibbon.     "  The  entrance  of  thy  ivords  giveth  light." 

July  15. — On  Sunday  I  went  to  the  cool  retreat  of  Dr.  Malan's 
chapel.  Neat  but  plain :  oaken  pulpit  and  unpainted  galleries. 
About  thirty-five  present.  The  Doctor  preached ;  very  short  and 
affectionate.  Two  members,  perhaps  elders,  were  called  on  to 
pray.  Afterwards  I  went  to  his  house,  and  had  a  hearty,  loving 
welcome. 

This  is  the  greatest  day  I  could  have  in  Geneva.  The  na- 
tional shooting-match,  the  Tir  Federal^  has  been  going  on  for  ten 
days,  and  people  from  all  the  cantons,  to  the  number  of  30,000, 
have  been  here.  The  prizes  =  137,000.  The  targets  are  by 
hundreds  in  a  row.  Every  man  who  makes  a  good  shot  carries 
a  card  in  his  hat,  and  I  have  seen  some  with  more  than  fifty.  I 
never  saw  a  more  healthy,  brave,  honest,  orderly  people.  But 
they  are  becoming  corrupted  by  French  infidel  democracy. 

We  went  to  the  St.  Antoine  quarter,  where  there  are  seats 
and  walks,  near  the  wire  bridge,  by  the  ramparts.  We  visited 
the  Cathedral ;  a  very  old  church,  like  St.  Denis  in  some  points. 
Here  the  Byzantine  arch  is  seen  growing  into  the  early  Gothic. 
The  old  stalls  from  before  the  Reformation  remain,  with  figures 
of  apostles  and  prophets  in  wood,  and  blazonry  indicating  the 
alliance  between  Geneva  and  Florence,  as  republics.  The  pulpit 
is  modern,  but  the  sounding-board  is  the  same  as  when  Calvin 
preached  here  ;  this  was  his  fiivourite  place. 

The  flora  of  the  Alpine  valleys  is  prodigious.  The  emerald 
hill-sides  are  a  mosaic  of  hues  more  brilliant  than  any  greenhouse. 
The  air,  or  some  luxuriance  of  growth,  makes  the  grass  and 
flowers  appear  brilliant  l)eyond  telling.  Every  great  rock,  on 
its  warmer  side,  has  a  perfect  garden  of  plants  and  flowers.  The 
people  are  very  loving.  Every  heifer  and  every  goat  is  petted 
like  a  cat. 


1851.  149 

Chamonix,  foot  op  Mont  Blanc,  July  lY,  1851. 
From  the  very  point  of  leaving  Geneva,  there  was  one  pano- 
rania  of  gardens  and  beauty ;  but  as  we  came  up  and  up  nearer 
to  the  "  monarch  of  mountains,"  the  views  became  so  amazing 
and  so  unlike  all  ever  seen  before,  that  I  felt  almost  in  a  new- 
planet.     You  are  sufficiently  flmiiliar  with  the  description  of 
such  valleys  as  those  through  which  we  came.     You  have  seen 
models  of  Swiss  houses,  but  oh  !  you  must  magnify  and  roughen 
them ;  you  must  make  them  dark  and  smoky  and  filthy  ;   you 
must  turn  stable  and  dwelling  into  one  ;  you  must  people  them 
with  the  most  homely,  rude,  bundled  creatures  ;  you  must  cause 
to  issue  from  them  disfigured  idiots,  maimed  and  livid  beggars, 
and  objects  with  goitres  from  the  size  of  an  apple  to  the  size  of 
their   own   heads.     I   never   beheld  such  an  appearance  of  ill 
health,  as  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Arne.     When  we  began  to 
rise  yet  higher  at  St.  Martin,  the  people  looked  better,  but  still 
our  carriage  was  beset  with  horrible  lazars.     Occasionally  a  fat 
priest  might  be  seen.     The  women  w^ork  like  oxen,  and  have  no 
trace   of   comeliness.     The   men   are    sometimes   well-looking. 
Crosses  and  roadside  chapels  abound  in  the  passes  of  the  Alps. 
But  "  only  man  is  vile."     These  very  objects,  seen  in  a  landscape 
a  little  way  off,  are  picturesque  in  a  high  degree.     To  describe 
the  valleys,  heights,  precipices,  grottos,  perpendicular  rocks,  and 
passages  along  edges  or  shelves,  where  heaven  was  darkened  by 
the  barrier  of  awful  rock  on  one  side,  and  the  pit  yawned  on  the 
other,  is  more  than  I  dare  attempt.     In  one  place  a  cannon  was 
fired  (by  a  woman)  and  its  echoes  were  undistinguishable  from 
severe  thunder.     Nothing  more  surprised  me  than  the  luxuriance 
of  vegetation.     You  never  saw,  even  in  a  flivoured  meadow,  such 
green  as  clothes  these  depths  and  heights,  from,  bottom  to  top, 
wherever  any  soil  can  stick.     Even  here,  where  I  seem  almost 
to  touch  Mt.  Blanc,  where  its  tremendous  slope  comes  down  to 
the  very  Arne,  which  sounds   in   my  ears,  as  it  rushes  from 
masses  of  ice  ;  where  the  weather  demands  greatcoats  and  fires ; 
and  where  I  see  two  glaciers  and  a  world  of  snow  above  me  on 
the  South,  and  overhanging  as  if  in  reach,  glistening  in  the  sun, 
even  here  the  pastures  are  indescribably  rich.     The  velvet  green 
goes  up  to  the  very  fields  of  snow,  and  beyond  it.     Tliis  moment 
the  echoes  of  bells  on  the  home-coming  cattle,  are  in  my  ears. 
The  flowers  are  more  numerous,  beautiful,  and  fragrant  than  I 
ever  saw  at  home.     We  have  abundance  of  strawberries,  cream 
which  is   almost  too  rich,  and  honey  which  is  famous  all  over 
Europe.     The  Alp-horn  was  sounded  for  us  and  we  listened  to 
its  echoes.     I  did  not  properly  understand  a  glacier,  before  I 
came  here.     It  is  most  like  a  mighty  river,  tossed  into  fury,  and 


150  DTJEING   HIS   FIEST  VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

then  turned  to  ice.  Glaciers  have  a  constant,  though  imper- 
ceptible motion.  They  look  like  frozen  cataracts,  coming  down 
the  hollows  of  the  mountain-sides.  They  give  origin  to  rivers. 
The  air  is  very  rare,  cool,  and  clear,  so  that  objects  seem  greatly 
nearer  than  the  reality.  The  clouds,  and  fogs,  and  snows,  which 
play  fantastically  about  the  mountains,  keep  the  great  peaks  most 
of  the  time  concealed ;  but  enough  is  visible  to  make  us  adore 
Him  "  who  setteth  fast  the  mountains." 

Cologne,  August  2,  1851.^ 
The  revolutionary  spirit  [through  Germany]  connects  itself 
with  a  hideous  levelling  jacobinism.  I  bless  God,  from  my  soul, 
that  I  am  an  American,  and  that  America  is  a  quiet  land. 
The  evils  of  over-population  and  iron  prescription  look  incurable. 
Yet  such  labour,  such  lands,  and  such  plenty,  I  never  dreamed 
of  The  amount  of  soil  in  vineyards  shocks  me.  They  could 
exist  without  wine.  Yet  I  have  never  seen  any  one  drinking 
mere  water  at  table.  Add  coffee  and  tobacco,  (now  largely 
raised  in  Baden,)  and  the  waste  of  soil  and  labour  is  alarming. 
Even  yet  every  plough  has  a  wdieel,  and  very  little  horse  or 
mule  power  is  used.  Indeed,  women  and  children  take  their 
place.  To-day  I  counted  seven  baskets  on  one  woman's  head, 
and  eight  on  another.  At  Heidelberg  I  saw  two  fine  girls  remove 
a  load  of  cut  wood  on  their  heads,  carrying  almost  a  small 
wheel-barrow-full  each  time.  Every  inch  of  soil  and  every  odd 
chance  of  labour  are  subsidized.  Hedges,  and  even  paths,  are 
unknown  in  many  parts,  to  save  room  ;  and  along  the  crags  of 
the  Rhine  some  of  the  most  famous  vines  are  set  in  baskets,  and 
dressed  from  suspended  boards  or  ladders.  You  will  often  see 
a  patch  of  wheat  no  larger  than  a  bed-quilt ;  and,  wherever  the 
reapers  have  removed  the  sheaves,  plowers  and  harrowers  tread 
on  their  heels.  Eields  of  poppies  for  oil.  Emits  go  from  here- 
abouts to  London,  especially  cherries.  The  great  staple,  how- 
ever, is  wine.  The  tip-top  sorts  reach  none  but  princes.  The 
common  wines  are  in  my  humble  opinion  little  better  than  rasp- 
berry-vinegar, and  far  below  their  own  beer.  The  Rhine-wines, 
which  everybody  drinks,  are  acid  though  lively,  and  require  a 
training  to  endure.  I  confess,  the  peasantry  look  happy,  dwell 
cosily,  and  enjoy  a  merriment  unknown  with  us.  The  instances 
of  personal  and  table  filthiness,  common  in  German  inns,  would 
nauseate  you  if  described.  At  Basel,  a  German  gentleman,  at 
the  table  d'hote,  dinner   going   on,  cleaned   his  teeth  with  his 

^  Tlie  places  since  Chamonix  were  Vevay,  Laxisanne,  Lucerne,  Zurich, 
(where  he  "  could  not  find  a  man  who  had  ever  heard  of  Zuinglo,  till  I  met 
an  American,")  Basel,  Baden,  Freiburg,  Strasburg,  Carlsruhc,  Heidelberg. 


1851.  151 

brush,  and  spat  into  a  glass.  The  female  sex,  generally,  tends 
to  a  masculine  coarseness.  I  have  learned  to  prize  an  American 
woman  Of  Cathedrals,  I  have  now  seen  the  greatest,  JJrei- 
hura,  Strasburg,  and  Cologne.  Next  to  God's  works  no  work 
has  ever  so  aimazed  me.  In  the  gorgeous  temple,  amidst  painted 
windows  and  music  that  made  me  tremble  and  sink,  my  soul  was 
oppressed  at  the  heathenism  to  which  Christianity  is  here  re- 
duced. And  then  to  think  what  the  Protestantism  is,  which  is  to 
oppose  it !  I  deeply  fear  some  judicial  dealing  with  this  whole 
continent.     Unless  Christ  work  some  pentecostal  miracle,  where 

is  the  hope  ]  .         .r  -,       i.  t  r- m.  \ 

The  scenery  of  the  Ehine  was  very  beautiful,  yet  1  telt  how 
inferior  in  mere  natural  points  it  is  to  the  Hudson.  The  vine- 
yards, harvests,  towns,  and  ruins,  however,  give  it  a  character 
all  its  own. 

Steamboat  "  Rubens,"  on  the  Rhine,  between  ) 
Cologne  and  Arnhem,  August  4,  1851.        ) 

There  is  nothin<r  more  curious  here  than  the  rapid  change  of 
lano-ua-es.  An  hour  ago,  it  was  all  German.  Now,  having  got 
on  °a  boat  for  Holland,  it  is  all  Dutch.  Wheii  I  came  aboard,  I 
really  thought  everybody  was  talking  English,  the  sound  is  so 
different  from  the  jaw-breaking  German.  The  look  is  American. 
I  write  on  deck  at  a  mahogany  table.  A  little  forward  is  a  com- 
pany of  six,  three  men  and  three  young  women,  liiey  have 
just  had  their  lunch.  So  gentle,  so  home-like,  so  Protestant- 
lookino-  I  am  soothed  and  comforted  after  filthy,  wicked  Cologne 
The  river  is  iust  like  the  Delaware  about  Tacony.  We  are  just 
passino-  Dusseldorf,  which  I  am  sorry  to  leave  unseen.  How 
dad  f  am  I  did  not  stop !  Dr.  E.  Robinson  just  got  on  at  D. 
You  cannot  understand  my  thankfulness :  how  my  pent-up  l.ng- 
lish  rolled  out  in  a  flood !  He  is  from  Halle  and  Berlin,  and 
ffoes  with  me  to  Holland. 

The  Pvhine-wine  is  cheap  here.  The  true  Johanmsberger  is 
produced  by  one  vineyard  only,  which  belongs  to  Metternich  and 
which  I  saw.  The  people  all  drink  wine,  and  always  dilute  it. 
Undiluted  it  is  weaker  than  cider,  and  just  the  colour. 

UirechL  9h  P.  M.— In  Holland  my  first  landing  was  at  Arn- 
hem,  then  hither  by  rails.  I  longed  for  English  cleanlmess  but 
Dutch  is  more  marvellous.  It  seems  as  if  dirt  could  not  stick 
Entered  this  Venice-like  city  by  moonlight.  It  is  the  poetry  ot 
niceness.  The  canals  are  shadowy  with  trees.  The  best  idea  I 
can  2ive,  is  to  refer  to  old  Philadelphia  half  a  century  ago.  ^  otti- 
incT  in  Eno-land  so  resembles  it.  The  squat  houses,  gables,  glazed 
brick,  trim  doorways,  shade,  absence  of  glare,  in  a  word  a  wealth 


152  DUEING   HIS   FIEST   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

too  proud  to  be  fine.  Every  house,  door,  chair,  and  tea-cup,  is 
new  to  me.  Surely  this  is  the  China  of  Europe.  Population 
50,000 ;  30,000  are  Protestants.  The  University  is  the  aristo- 
cratic one  ;  between  400  and  500  students.  The  Jansenists  are 
here  in  force — nowhere  else.  I  am  surprised  that  I  see  nothing 
as  yet  that  strikes  me  as  funny.  I  am  so  overcome  with  the 
purity  and  peacefulness.  The  Germans  and  Erench  are  ten  times 
droller.  The  Dutch  children  are  just  little  Philadelphians,  only 
with  a  cunning  rig  of  their  own.  I  have  just  been  shaved.  No 
brush,  box,  &c.,  own  soap  and  towel.  This  is  German  also. 
The  hydraulic  power  between  the  Dollart  and  Scheldt  is  esti- 
mated at  $1,500,000,000 ;  the  value  of  windmills  is  $3,600,000. 
I  observed  signs  of  strong  drink  in  Holland.  Schiedam  has 
300  gin  distilleries.  The  house  in  which  Erasmus  was  born,  is 
a  gin-place.  I  observed,  for  the  first  time  in  Europe,  pallor 
among  the  children ;  yet  the  people  look  healthy.  The  working- 
women  are  as  neat  'at  their  work,  as  ours  on  Sundays.  The 
churches  are  full.  My  general  conclusion  is,  that  the  impulse 
of  the  Reformation,  and  its  traditionary  customs,  abide  very 
strong,  and  that,  while  they  are  on  the  descent  towards  Ger- 
man "rationalism,  they  are  not  so  far  down  as  we  think  in 
America.  They  are  dead  and  formal,  but  not  universally  erro- 
neous. In  the  country  places,  I  am  assured,  people  read  the  old 
books  and  cling  to  the  old  doctrine.  Catechizing  and  pastoral 
visiting  are  kept  up.  Country  pastors  are  "  orthodox,"  but  I 
failed  lo  learn  precisely  what  that  term  imports  in  Holland. 
Two  educated  and  sensible  men  agreed  in  declaring  that  Utrecht 
is  still  orthodox,  and  that  the  body  of  the  churches  hold  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord  and  the  atonement. 

London,  August  12,  1851.^ 

1  dare  say  you  think  I  am  in  Belgrave  Square.  Not  a  bit  of 
it.  I  am  at  the  George  Inn,  Alderman  bury,  opening  into  Milk 
street,  and  so,  southwardly,  into  Cheapside.  You  need  not  fear 
my  lavishing  all  my  admiration  on  England.  I  have  been  ad- 
miring all  "the  way.  If  my  geese  are  all  swans—"  at  mihi 
plaudo."  It  is  so  much  in  my  pocket.  But  I  have  not  failed 
to  go,  perhaps  too  largely,  into  the  Mayhew-places.'  I  continue 
to  think  the  English  of  Englishmen,  the  ugliest  language  I 
ever  heard.  It  is  a  tin-pan  throat  with  the  nose  held.  Every 
Englishman  I  have  heard  (and  it  has  been  many  every  day) 

says   knowledge,   nlther,  wroth,  vaws,    (vase,)    'ow,   sovereign, 

^  The  intervening  dates  are  Amsterdam,  Lcyden,  Hague,  Rotterdam. 

2  MayheVs  articles,  first  in  the  Times,  describing  the  condition  of  the 
London  poor. 


1851.  153 

(a  word  of  every  minute.)     But  they  are  by  odds  the  best  people 
to  meet  with  I  have  seen. 

August  14.— This  morning  I  surveyed  Billingsgate,  the  oyster- 
sloops  Coal  Exchange,  Old  and  New  Corn  Exchange,  Leaden- 
hall  Market,  and  the  India  House.  At  the  last  I  inquired  of  the 
doorkeeper  about  Charles  Lamb.  He  said  "I  have  been  here 
since  I  was  sixteen  years  old,  but  I  never  heard  of  any  Mr. 
Lamb."  '  But  the  door-keeper  of  the  Museum  remembered  him 
well :  "  Oh  yes.  Sir ;  he  was  a  very  little  man,  with  such  small 
legs,  and  wore  knee-breeches."  He  directed  me  to  a  private 
stair,  which  would  take  me  down  to  the  Accounts.  I  went  into 
a  place  below,  like  a  bank,  and  was  shown  to  a  principal  person, 
Mr.  W.  It  was  the  room  in  which  Lamb  wrote  many  years, 
but  had  been  altered.  Mr.  W.  showed  me  his  window  and 
where  his  desk  was.  I  looked  out  at  the  high  blank  wall,  not 
five  feet  beyond,  and  understood  Lamb's  "  India  House."  Mr. 
W.  showed  me  a  4to  volume  of  hiterest  Tables,  with  such  re- 
marks as  these,  in  Lamb's  fine  round  hand,  on  the  fly-leaf :  "  A 
book  of  much  interest.— ^d  Revieivr  "  A  work  in  which  the 
interest  never  flags.— ^war.  Revieioy  "We  may  say  of  this 
volume  that  the  interest  increases  fi'om  the  beginning  to  the 
enQ\,—Monthli/  Bevietv:'  Mr.  W.  knew  Lamb  well.  "He 
was  a  small  man— smaller  than  you,  and  always  wore  shorts  and 
black  gaiters.  Sometimes  his  puns  were  poor.  He  often  came 
late,  and  then  he  would  say,  "  Well,  I'll  make  up  for  it,  by  going 

away  early."  u  r-   i 

As  1  was  prowling  about,  I  saw  over  a  dark  entrance  Little 
Britain:'  It  was  not  in  human  nature  to  overpass  Little  Britain, 
and  glad  am  I  that  I  did  not.  A  great  monastic  walled  court 
with  quadrangle  after  quadrangle,  cloisters  along  the  sides,  and 
lofty  ancient  piles  of  the  Elizabethan  style,  surrounding  the 
paved  areas— black,  dingy,  and  quiet,  with  statues,  pumps,  and 
double  iron  fences  in  parts.  It  was  Christ-Church  Hospital ! 
There  are  the  dear  little  fellows,  in  the  ancient  dress.  No  hat, 
black  velvet  small  clothes,  yellow  worsted  hose,  a  long  coat  or 
frock  of  blue,  a  girdle  of  red  leather,  and  bands  like  a  preacher. 
There  are  about  a  thousand,  but  only  eighty  are  here  in  vacation. 
The  great  Hall  is  modern  and  cost  £30,000 ;  all  in  one  room. 
Here  they  eat,  at  tables  which  seem  two  centuries  old.  I  went 
into  the  Mathematical  school.  The  forms  are  very  long  and 
narrow,  with  the  merest  strip  of  a  desk.  The  little  scholar,  who 
was  my  cicerone,  said  he  was  learning  Greek  and  Ereiich. 
Wherever  they  go,  in  the  remotest  part  of  England,  they  have 

^  "Elia"  died  in  1834. 
VOL.  II. — ^7* 


154  DUEIKG-  HIS   riEST   VISIT   TO   ErEOPE. 

to  ^vear  this  garb.  Coleridge  and  Lamb  were  blue-coat  boys. 
All  round  the  cloisters,  or  covered  walks,  marbles  are  set  into 
the  wall  commemorative  of  teachers,  beneflictors,  &c.  One 
runs  thus : 

"heee  lteth 

A     BENEFACTOE, 

MOVE  NOT   HIS   BONES." 

I  wondered  at  this  antique  silence  in  the  heart  of  London,  and 
came  away  with  regret.  I  find  myself  to  be  an  undeniable  an- 
tiquary. My  portrait  ought  to  be  taken,  as  Savigny  is  cari- 
catured in  Germany,  with  eyes  at  the  back  of  the  head.  I  have 
been  such  a  miserable  book-worm  for  forty  years,  that  I  live 
almost  in  the  past. 

When  I  say  I  like  the  English  hugely,  more  by  far  than  any 
people  I  have  seen,  I  certainly  do  not  mean  that  I  like  the  fire 
and  fury  of  the  movement  j^arty.  Keligion  is  with  them  made 
up  of  politics  and  aggression,  just  as  in  some  parts  of  America,  of 
abstinence  and  abolition.  There  is  less  known  of  us  in  England 
than  on  the  continent.  Here  the  papers  cull  chiefly  what  is  laugh- 
able, discreditable,  or  capable  of  turning  to  their  own  account. 
You  cannot  get  through  an  Englishman's  hair  the  first  notion  of 
our  confederation.  They  all  have  the  grossest  views  of  our 
slavery,  and  lose  temper  when  spoken  to.  The  people  here  press 
me  to  stay  to  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  Avhich  has  a  great  demon- 
stration beginning  on  the  19th;  but  their  programme  contains 
some  phrases  -which  move  my  American  spunk,  and  show  they 
still  have  the  same  spirit  they  had  last  year. 

I  think  the  British  Museum  worth  my  whole  voyage,  and 
journey,  and  expense.  It  is  just  by  my  lodging.  At  last,  after 
years  of  wishing,  my  highest  desires  are  accomplished,  by  sight 
of  the  greatest  MSS.  and  antiques.  To-day,  on  a  third  visit,  I 
came  away,  worn  out,  after  superficially  seeing  about  the  hun- 
dredth part.  If  anybody  asks  you  whether  I  have  been  to  the 
cemetery  of  Pere  la  Chaise,  at  Paris,  say  No :  but  I  have  been 
to  Bunhill  Fields,  where  are  the  ashes  of  Isaac  Watts  and  John 
Bunyan. 

London,  Aitgust  20,  1851. 
I  spent  last  evening  in  company  of  Dr.  Dacosta  and  Dr. 
Capadose,  of  Holland,  both  celebrated  as  converted  Jews,  and 
promoters  of  evangelical  piety.  Capadose  is  full  of  Christian 
warmth  and  love,  but  he  speaks  English  very  judaically.  Da- 
costa cannot  open  his  lips  without  your  perceiving  that  he  is  an 
original.  It  has  been  said  that  he  is  the  greatest  mind  in  the 
Low  Countries. 


1851.  155 

At  the  Evangelical  Alliance  I  heard  Noel  speak.  His  pro- 
nunciation is  precisely  that  of  an  educated  South  Carolinian, 
except  a  few  words.  Mr.  James  presided,  with  great  em2yresse- 
ment  of  manner,  and  great  voice  and  rhetoric.  The  great  house 
(Freemason's  Hall)  was  thronged,  and  they  sit  from  ten  till  six. 
I  must  admire  the  temper  of  the  Assembly.  They  are  full  of 
heartiness,  and  every  one  speaks  to  his  neighbour.  They  re- 
ceive the  poorest,  stammering  speakers,  with  perfect  forbearance. 
Indeed,  it  is  all  free  and  easy  as  a  dinner.  I  have  had  an  explana- 
tion with  Dr.  Hamilton  about  the  Alliance,  and  declared  to  him 
that  I  Avould  not  submit  to  any  queries  about  my  opinions  on 
slavery. 

When  I  saw  the  sculptures  from  Italy,  on  my  first  visit  to 
the  Crystal  Palace,  1  had  never  seen  any  thing  so  lovely  in  art. 
But  when  I  visited  it  lately  the  charm  was  gone,  for  I  had  seen 
hundreds  of  ancient  works  in  the  Louvre.  Yet,  nothing  equals 
the  Elgin  marbles. 

Seeing  Gothic  churches  has  gone  far  to  make  me  a  convert  to 
the  Greek,  in  regard  to  exterior.  As  to  interior,  the  Greek 
temple  had  none,  for  the  cella  cannot  be  so  named.  Inside  I 
admit  the  sublimity  of  the  structure.  Henry  the  Vllth's  chapel 
is  marvellous.  Yet  sitting  there  in  one  of  the  antique  stalls,  I 
owned  in  the  very  place  that  Gothic  architecture  is  not  the  high- 
est ideal  of  Bildkunst.  So  much  is  grotesque,  so  much  is 
reducible  to  no  canon,  so  much  excites  wonder,  like  over-learned 
music  for  its  seeming  impracticability,  that  I  go  back  to  the 
perfect  beauty  of  Piestum  and  the  Parthenon  for  repose. 

Cambridge,  Augiist  24,  1851.^ 

Yesterday  we  left  London,  and  got  here  in  two  hours.  In 
our  railway  carriage  was  Mr.  E.  H.  Wilkinson,  a  Senior 
Fellow  of  King's  College,  and  Bursar,  (which  is  only  fifth  in 
rank,  and  in  certain  things  only  second,)  who  insisted  we  should 
put  ourselves  under  his  care.  His  elegant  apartments  are  the 
same  which  good  Mr.  Simeon  occupied.  We  (Dr.  Robinson 
and  I)  dined  one  day  in  the  Hall.  The  service  was  solid  silver, 
with  the  College  arms.  All  the  china  had  the  same.  Rising, 
we  went  across  the  passage  to  the  combination  room,  really  a 
very  sumptuous  parlour,  opening  into  one  larger  still.  Here 
they  sit  at  wine.  Great  reverence  to  "  Mr.  Vice  Provost,"  who 
is   always   so   addressed.     Here  we   had   six  added,  only   one 

^  On  the  23d  of  August  Dr.  Alexander's  youngest  child,  and  only  daugh- 
ter, died  at  Princeton.  Her  age  was  about  fourteen  months.  The  afflictive 
tidings  reached  him  at  Glasgow. 


156  DUEING   HIS   FIEST   VISIT   TO   ETJEOPE. 

clergyman.     The   conversation  was   perfectly  easy,  without   a 
word  about  learning. 

On  Sunday  attended  service  in  the  famous  chapel  of  King's 
College.  Service  chanted  ;  all  in  surplices.  Wilkinson  looked 
grand  in  his  white  robes  and  master's  hood.  I  admired  the 
manners  of  these  learned  Sybarites,  especially  the  absence  of  all 
interrogations  about  America.  I  heard  Scholefield,  the  Greek 
Professor,  preach  in  St.  Michael's  an  admirable  extempore  ser- 
mon. We  saw  every  thing,  visited  all  the  Colleges.  It  was  as 
if  w^e  had  been  old  chums  come  back  on  a  visit.  The  kingdom 
rings  with  the  victory  of  the  American  yacht.  They  are  very 
open  and  manly,  in  expressing  their  chagrin.  I  have  never  seen 
or  dreamed  of  any  persons  so  full  of  real,  though  peculiar  kind- 
ness, as  the  educated  English.  I  like  America  best,  though  lost 
in  admiration  of  England. ^ 


Edinburgh,  August  27,  1851. 

This  is  the  ninety-seventh  day  of  my  absence,  yet  the  first 
in  which  I  expect  to  lie  down  in  a  private  house.  You  cannot 
imagine  how  I  felt  to  get  into  a  sweet,  happy,  elegant  Christian 
house,  [Mr.  Wm.  Dickson's,  an  Elder  of  the  Free  Church,]  and 
have  family-w^orship  and  sing  the  old  psalms.  Then,  oh  how 
delightful  to  be  among  Presbyterians !  To-day  for  the  first 
time  have  I  seen  the  hills  covered  with  heather,  and  beautiful  it 
is.  We  visited  Melrose  Abbey  and  Abbotsford,  and  saw  Dry- 
burgh  Abbey,  where  Scott  lies. 

August  29. — I  saw  the  Queen  come  in  yesterday  afternoon, 
and  stood  so  near  as  to  have  a  perfect  view  of  her  Majesty  and 
Prince  Albert,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  Princess  Royal. 

SeiJtemher  1. — I  preached  yesterday  for  the  Rev.  C.  J.  Bro^\Ti, 
in  the  Free  New  North  Church.  I  will  only  say  I  was  never  so 
helped  by  a  congregation.  Imagine  me  in  the  Geneva  cloak ; 
five  hundred  Bibles  rustling  at  once ;  such  deep,  penetrative,  ani- 
mated looks  from  whole  rows  of  people,  all  seeming  fired  with 
zeal,  and  all  singing  without  an  exception  that  I  could  note. 
I  thought  it  far  better  than  the  Madeleine  or  Cologne.  JMr. 
Dickson  edits  a  youth's  paper.  He  teaches  two  Bible  classes. 
I  preached  to  one  of  them.  It  contains  70 — 80  girls.  An  hour 
was  spent  studying  rather  than  saying  the  lesson.  I  should  have 
thought  the  examination  a  good  one  for  the  first  [the  youngest] 
class  in  the  Seminary.     They  answered   the  questions  with  a 

^  On  the  2Gth  left  Cambridge,  and  to  Ely,  Peterborough,  Lincoln,  York, 
Alnwick,  Berwick-upon-Tweed. 


1851.  157 

pertinence,  knowledge  of  Scripture,  and  exactness  which  amazed 


nie/ 


Glasgow,  September  9,  1851. 

That  my  journeying  has  done  any  good  to  my  body,  I  am  not 
sure.  I  am  sure  it  has  been  good  for  my  soul.  And  especially 
these  few  days  in  Scotland  have  shown  me  a  permanent  revival 
of  religion,  such  as  proves  to  me  that  God  has  a  favour  to  his 
covenanting  people.  The  preciousness  of  it  is,  that  religion  is 
founded  on  chapter  and  verse ;  free  from  outcry  and  sanctimony, 
and  even  talk  about  personal  feelings,  but  is  so  courageous, 
active,  and  tender,  that  I  am  as  certain  as  that  I  am  writing  these 
lines,  that  I  am  among  the  best  people  on  earth.  A  thousand 
times  have  I  said  to  myself,  "  O  if  my  father  could  just  for  one 
hour  hear  these  prayers,  and  observe  these  fruits  of  unadulter- 
ated Calvinistic  seed  !  "  Here  is  the  fruit  of  prayers  sent  up  by 
Rutherfords  and  Bostons.  Don't  think  all  are  such,  or  that  these 
people  are  faultless.  Their  faults  are  as  prominent  as  their  good 
qualities.  They  have  the  bad  points  belonging  to  strong,  sanguine- 
ous, choleric,  fearless,  outspoken  people.  Their  quarrels  about 
hairsbreadths  (for  they  are  all  agreed  about  doctrine  and  order) 
are  inexplicable. 

In  Glasgow  there  are  more  hideous,  half-naked  people,  than  I 
ever  saw  anywhere  on  the  continent.  I  own  they  generally  look 
hearty,  but  the  public  charities  are  kept  in  full  operation. 
Thousands  of  Irish  are  here.  While  a  low,  radical  infidelity  is 
doing  its  work,  and  whisky  is  slaying  its  thousands,  there  are 
tokens  that  Presbyterian  institutions  are  acting  vigorously.  Our 
system  is  more  than  a  theory.  Church  power  makes  itself  felt. 
Elders  are  more  numerous  than  with  us  ;  sometimes  twenty 
and  even  thirty.  The  Kirk  has  no  Deacons,  but  some  Tree 
Churches  have  twenty  each,  who  do  every  thing  that  is  done 
among  us  by  voluntary  collections.  The  sums  raised  are  almost 
incredible.  Indeed,  religious  arrangements  take  the  place  in 
public  conversation  which  politics  do  with  us  ;  and  I  scarcely 
meet  two  men  without  hearinoj  them  talk  about  some  scheme  of 
church-operation.     All  the  piety  is  not  in  the  Free  Church. 

Dr.  Robinson  left  me  on  the  4th,  to  go  to  Southampton. 
We  have  been  just  a  month  together,  and  have  had  many  mer- 
cies in  common.     I  have  cause  to  be  thankful  for  the  lessons  I 

^  I  have  to  omit  the  details  of  the  visits  to  the  institutions,  Hbraries, 
historical  localities,  churches,  eminent  ministers,  &c.,  of  Edinburgh.  He 
said,  "  I  find  it  utterly  vain  to  try  to  journalize  here."  "  Particulars  Avould 
fill  fifty  sheets."  On  the  1st  September  he  left  the  hospitable  city — to 
Stirling — by  the  lakes — to  Dunbarton,  where  he  took  steamer  for  Glasgow. 


158  DrEING   HIS   FIRST   VISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

have  learned  ii-om  him.  Truly  he  has  heen  "  eyes  "_  to  me  all 
the  way,  by  reason  of  his  stupendous  topical  penetration. 

I  spent  some  days  at  Helensburgh  opposite  Greenock  on  the 
Clyde,  at  Mr.  Mitchell's.  On  the  Sabbath  I  preached  once  for 
]Mr.  JNIcEwen.  The  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  ministers  spend 
more  time  in  summering  and  in  excursions,  than  those  of  the 
United  States,  while  their  climate  gives  less  reason  for  it.  The 
colleges  and  theological  halls  have  a  vacation  of  at  least  six 
entire  months.     But  the  places  of  worship  are  never  shut  up. 

It  is  altogether  impossible  for  me  to  describe  the  kindness  I 
received  at  Glasgow.  The  M.'s  are  a  generation  even  beyond 
their  own  countrymen. 

Belfast,  September  1^7,  1851. 
I  arrived  here  on  the  12th.     There  are  seventeen  Presby- 
terian churches  in  Belfest.     I  heard  Dr.  Cook  at  his  church,  on 
fellowship  with  God ;  I  regard  him  as  the  nearest  perfection  as 
an  elegant  orator,  of  all  I  have  met  with.     His  hospitalities  were 
Irish  and  Christian.     We  mounted  a  jaunting-car,  and  rode  by 
Carrickfergus,  Ballygelly,  and  Ballycastle  to  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way.    All  along  the" incomparable  coast  of  Glenarm  Bay,  people 
were  bathing.     The  world  can  scarcely  offer  a  more  delightful 
place,  and  the  day  was  mildly  warm,  with  a  golden  haze.   ^  Fair 
Head  is  a  lofty  sea-mark,  a  promontory  of  majestic  loveliness. 
Bengore  Head  is  second  only  to  this  ;   and  the  intervening  long 
sweep  of  bay,  shut  in  by  the  isle  of  Eathlin,  with  its  blue  pearly 
heights,  almost  sickened  me  with  its  fairy-like  softness.     We 
reached  the  excellent  inn  at  the  Giant's  Causeway  about  the  end 
of  the  long  northern  twilight.     In  all  my  journey ings,  there  is 
no  day  I  would  more  gladly  repeat.     The  people  interest  me 
more  than  any  thing  else.     How  sharp  and  how  merry !     The 
mixture  of  Scots  and  Irish  here,  is  very  obvious.     In  the  oats- 
field  they  show  finely.     Here  only  among  their  own  scenes  can 
Irish  beauty  be  seen.     I  have  seen  many  faces,  which  had  the 
beauty  of  expression,  among  the  poor  women  and  girls.     Tues- 
day was  given  to  the  Causeway  and  accessories.     Description  is 
unnecessary.     From  the  Causeway  in  a  jaunting-car  through  the 
county  Antrim.     There  are  no  barns,     the  grain  is  stacked,  and 
hereabouts  in  beautiful  English-looking  ricks.     The  land  is  very 
fertile,  and  wherever  an  owner  has  it  in  hand  presents  a  noble 
appearance ;  but  in  the  poor,  little  patches  of  the  cotters,  even 
here   in  Antrim,  it   is   a  chance  agriculture,  like  the  slovenly 
patches  about  a  negro-quarter.     They  live  from  hand  to  mouth. 
You  pass  single  cottages,  and  groups  of  cottages,  all  in  ruins,  as 
after  a  fire.     These  are  of  people  who,  ruined  by  the  rot,  have 


1S51.  159 

been  swept  into  the  fine  spacious  poor-liouses.  The  cottages  are 
all  of  rough  stone  and  thatched.  Their  general  average  look 
is  thus  :  [Here  is  a  pen  and  ink  sketch  of  a  hovel.]  Out  of 
such  houses  I  have  again  and  again  seen  handsome  and  joyous 
families  pouring,  with  here  and  there  a  pallid,  fever-looking 
creature.  So  open  and  welcoming  a  smile  I  never  saw  prevail 
in  any  human  faces.  Calves  walk  in  and  out  of  many  cottages 
as  freely  as  the  yellow-haired  children.  About  Antrim  and 
especially  the  Moravian  settlement,  Grace  Hill,  we  see  what  care 
and  taste  may  do.  Such  vales,  such  hills,  such  gateways,  bleach- 
ing grounds  like  fields  of  snow,  such  hedges,  and  such  green  and 
gold,  as  even  Devonshire  might  own.  Such  might  all  Ireland 
be,  if  the  priests  had  chosen  to  instruct  their  slaves. 

Dublin,  September  lY,  1851. 
From   Belfast   we   crossed   the   county  Armagh   to    Castle 
Blayney  and  Dublin.     Thus  far,  there  is  no  part  of  my  travels 
which  I  would  so  readily  repeat,  as  my  Irish  trip.     The  mode 
of  travelling,  the  roads,  the  access  to  the  people,  the  awakening 
of  human  sympathies,  the  physical  geography,  the  rapid   com- 
parison of  races,  must  make  me  ever  mindful  of  it.     I  have 
seen  grander  scenes,  and  a  few  more  beautiful,  but  none  more 
lovely  than  all  Ulster  and  a  part  of  Leinster.     True  I  see  much 
misery,  but  compassion  is  a  healthful  feeling ;  and  while  I  admire 
some  nations,  I  can  truly  add  I  love  the  Irish.     For  surface  I 
believe  there  is  no  such  country  in  the  world.     I  have  seen  no 
part,  out  of  towns,  where  there  is  any  level.     The  roads  are  as 
sniooth  as  this  table.     You  have  no  idea  of  the  demigods  the 
priests  have  become.     They  might  this  day  make  Ireland  happy, 
by  teaching  their  wretched  worshippers  to  read,  to  build,  to  till, 
and  to  keep  clean.     The  Protestant  regions  are  like  Scotland ; 
you  can  instantly  tell  the  difference  by  rags,  stench,  and  merry 


Ignorance. 


Dublin  shows  extremes  of  magnificence  and  squalid  woe, 
such  as  seldom  meet.  The  better  sort  of  people  strike  me  as 
the  handsomest  I  ever  saw.  There  is  one  type  of  face  which 
predominates  and  is  peculiarly  Irish — black  hair  and  eye-lashes, 
large  clear  blue  eyes,  red  and  white  skin  of  unusual  delicacy,  and 
a  joyous,  arch  expression  playing  through  all.  Happy  Dublin, 
if  it  were  not  the  capital  of  a  ruined  land.^ 

^  Leaving  Dublin  the  19tli  September,  the  traveller  passed  through  Kil- 
dare,  Thurles,  Inch,  Limerick.  Thence  by  Ennis,  (County  Clare),  Gort, 
(County  Galway,)  to  Gahvay,  the  fifth  city  of  Ireland,  but  "far,  far  beyond 
all  I  ever  dreamed  of  for  squalor,  filth,  and  poverty."     On  the  22d  left  Gal- 


160  DURING   HIS   FIRST   VISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

Oxford,  September  26,  1851. 

I  came  here  to  dinner  yesterday  from  Liverpool,  176  miles. 
We  touched  Rugby  village,  about  a  mile  from  the  school.  It  is 
vacation  here,  which  is  bad ;  but  the  claustral  silence,  and  venera- 
ble solitude,  and  regal-ecclesiastical  state  of  this  monastic  city  of 
palaces  is  surely  unique.  The  impression  is  that  of  an  awful 
dream.  You  have  read  so  long  and  so  much  about  Oxford  that 
I  should  think  it  idle  to  repeat  what  is  in  a  score  of  books.  I 
will  set  down  some  incoherencies  not  in  print. 

Oxford  is  larger,  greater,  and  lordlier  than  Cambridge.  It 
has  more  colleges,  more  large  colleges,  and  an  aggregate  of  archi- 
tectural glories  beyond  Cambridge  ;  but  Oxford  has  nothing  like 
King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  little  like  Trinity,  and  no  grounds 
like  those  of  the  last  named.  There  is  a  family-likeness  in  the 
two  towns,  but  Oxford  is  more  antique,  civic,  mediaeval,  and 
proud.  Cambridge  has  incomparably  the  more  beautiful  site. 
There  is  no  chapel  in  Oxford,  or  the  world,  like  King's  at  Cam- 
bridge. There  is  no  Hall  at  Cambridge  like  Christ  Church  here. 
The  turf  is  close-shaven,  cut  every  few  days,  rolled  and  swept,  and 
is  unlike  any  thing  known  among  us,  the  moist  climate  favouring 
grass.  Flowers  abound,  not  only  in  the  landscape-gardening  of 
the  immense  college-greens,  but  in  the  windows  of  fellows. 
Some  of  the  quadrangles  here  are  not  green,  but  gravelled. 
Christ  Church  meadow  is  surrounded  by  a  walk  of  a  mile,  and 
elms  three  centuries  old.  You  may  lose  yourself  in  the  groves 
and  thickets  of  some  of  these  river-gardens.  I  learn  that  the 
"  men  "  seldom  prefer  them  to  the  streets.  The  halls  or  refecto- 
ries, are,  as  a  whole,  less  regal  than  at  Cambridge,  except  only 
Christ  Church,  where  they  daily  provide  for  three  hundred  in 
term.  Around  these  are  portraits,  generally  full-length,  of  great 
members.  The  painted  glass  windows  in  the  chapels  are  by  far 
the  best  1  have  met  with,  especially  five  Flemish  windows  in  New 
college  chapel,  (William  of  Wyckham'3.)  The  feeling  in  these 
cloisters, "  quods,"  and  parks,  (where  deer  come  to  your  hand,)  is 
that  of  absolute  sequestration  from  the  world.  Pusey's  house, 
in  one  of  the  inner  corners  of  Christ  Church,  is  just  the  spot  to 
generate  such  fancies  as  his. 

The  system  here,  though  inexpressibly  fascinating,  is  out  of 
harmony  with  the  age.  In  every  buttery-entrance,  where  you 
look  to  espy  a  monk  under  the  black  honey-combed  arches,  you 
see  the  placards  of  "  Time  Tables  of  N.  W.  Railway."  The 
present   Warden   of    All-Souls    (where   there    are    none    but 

way  and  crossed  the  country  by  Athlone  and  Maynootli  to  Dublin.     On  the 
23d  to  Holyhead  and  Liverpool. 


1851.  161 

fellows,)  is  the  first  married  warden.  The  pressure  of  the  age 
will  certainly  bring  collapse  on  these  outworn  cenobitic  shells. 
I  feel  it  every  moment  in  a  country  where  steam  affects  every 
inch,  and  trains  thunder  by  some  places  twenty  in  a  day.  The 
agitation  about  exclusive  privileges  and  overgrown  foundations 
every  year  shakes  down  part  of  the  old  pile,  as  in  regard  to  the 
income  of  Bishops,  by  the  late  Act.  A  clergyman  here  is  re- 
garded everywhere  with  a  deference  unknown  anywhere  else. 
But  as  a  class  they  evidently  feel  very  fully  that  they  are  on  their 
good  behaviour,  and  that  public  opinion  cannot  be  disregarded. 
Some,  I  believe  many,  are  labouring  to  gain  good  will  to  the 
church,  in  the  best  of  all  ways. 

It  would  consume  pages,  and  emulate  guide-books,  to  tell  of 
college  after  college,  chapel  after  chapel,  halls,  gardens,  portraits, 
statues,  libraries,  and  cloisters.  Books  of  great  size  are  taken  up 
with  this.  Dr.  Routh,  author  of  the  Reliquice  Sacrse,  Master  of 
Magdalen  College,  has  his  portrait  in  the  Bodleian,  ast.  96.  He 
is  the  oldest  living  Oxonian.^ 

The  general  effect  produced  by  Oxford  is  soothing  to  my 
mind  in  a  high  degree.  Such  self-contained  wealth  of  learning, 
such  seclusion  from  the  stir  of  life,  such  yielding  of  every  thing 
to  learned  honours,  such  architectural  glory,  such  libraries,  such 
lawns,  such  trees,  such  prizes  held  out  to  studious  ambition,  such 
histories  of  past  genius,  such  mighty  and  beloved  names,  such 
costly  display  of  taste,  such  approaches  to  what  Rome  was  and 
would  fain  be,  exist  here  only  and  at  Cambridge,  and  more  here 
than  there.  But  it  all  strikes  me  as  a  tree  whose  root  is  dead  in 
the  earth,  vast,  green,  and  lovely,  but  destined  to  die  presently. 
I  doubt  whether  the  glory  has  not  already  passed  away.  The 
true  Oxonian  spirit  is  that  of  Newman  and  Pusey  ;  but  it  is  not 
of  the  age.  Such  a  chapel  as  Christ  College,  which  has  lately 
been  repaired  at  an  expense  of  $90,000,  is  fitted  to  absorb  a 
young  man  in  reveries,  but  they  are  of  an  age  which  cannot  live 
again.  My  hopes  rise  beyond  what  I  am  able  to  report  during 
this  rapid  tour,  that  God  is  working  by  new  agencies,  and  a  new 
Zeitgeist^  and  our  new^  world,  to  bring  in  a  new  kingdom.  So  far 
from  letting  my  intense  and  scarce  excusable  fondness  for  the 
relics  of  darker  ages  tempt  me  to  wish  them  back  again,  or  try 
to  imitate  them,  I  am  even  more  filled  with  a  sense  of  the  gigan- 
tic progress  of  the  modern  arts  and  civilization.  One  day  at  the 
Exhibition,  one  day  at  Birmingham  and  Manchester,  or  one  day 
on  any  one  trunk  of  English  railways,  is  worth  volumes  to 
awaken  expectation."     I  have  meditated,  I  trust  not  unuscfully, 

^  Dr.  Routh  nearly  completed  his  century,  dying  December  22,  1854. 
''  Dr.  Alexander  left  Oxford  September  26th,  arrived  the  game  day  at 


162  DmiNG  HIS   riEST  VISIT   TO   EIJEOPE. 

amidst  objects  which  have  the  odour  of  past  ages.  My  reigning 
sentiment,  after  hurrying  and  exciting  travel  among  the  thou- 
sands of  this  unspeakably  teeming  population  of  Europe,  is  an 
impression  that  men  and  generations  pass  away  like  the  herb  of 
the  field,  but  the  Word  of  the  Lord  abideth  forever ;  his  kingdom 
is  coming ;  his  house  is  going  up ;  his  plan  is  unfolding ;  old 
traditionary  things  which  vain  man  calls  eternal,  are  crumbling ; 
new  things  predicted,  but  not  expected,  are  rolling  in  like  a  flood ; 
our  life  and  that  of  our  children,  is  but  a  link  in  the  great  chain. 
I  trust  I  can  sometimes  add,  "  Thy  kingdom  come :  Thy  will  be 
done." 

Birmingham— on  the  2'7th  passed  on  to  Liverpool.  Here  he  heard  Mr.  Mc- 
Neile,whom  he  places  with  Dr.  Cook,  of  Belfast,  as  "by  a  long  way  the 
most  eloquent  men  I  have  heard  in  these  climates."  On  the  first  of  October 
he  embarked  on  the  steamer  Atlantic,  Captain  "West.  On  the  12th  (Sunday) 
he  and  Bishop  Otey  preached  in  the  saloon.  After  a  stormy  run,  the 
steamer  reached  New  York  October  15th,  and  the  same  evening  Dr.  Alex- 
ander joined  his  family  at  Princeton. 


CHAPTEE    XII. 

LETTERS    WHILE    PASTOR    OF    FIFTH    AYENUE 
CHURCH,    NEW    YORK. 

1851—1857. 

Princeton,  October  18,  1851. 

I  WRITE  more  to  stay  my  mind  during  hours  of  waiting  than 
to  communicate  much.  My  father  seems  to  grow  weaker.  He 
believes  himself  to  be  on  his  death-bed,  and  this  more  than  any 
symptoms  of  a  grave  character  makes  us  apprehend  the  same. 
I  think  his  perception  and  judgment  greater  than  in  any  moment 
of  his  life.  An  endless  train  of  minute  arrangements  have  occu- 
pied his  mind,  each  of  which  he  has  settled  in  the  most  summary 
way.  He  says  his  views  are  what  they  have  always  been  ;  that 
he  has  never  feared  to  die ;  that  he  has  never  seen  so  proper  a 
time  to  die ;  that  all  his  prayers  have  been  answered  ;  that  he 
has  no  ecstasy  but  assured  belief;  and  that  no  one  should  pray 
for  his  recovery.  He  says  his  views  of  God's  goodness  are  ex- 
pressed by  "  How  MARVELLOUS  is  thy  loving-kindness,  &c."  Every 
one  of  us,  even  my  dear  mother,  feels  most  calm  when  nearest  to 
the  scene  of  suffering.  The  affairs  of  the  Church  employ  far 
more  of  my  father's  words  than  any  family  concerns.  He  talked 
an  hour  with  me  on  the  prospects  of  the  truth  in  Scotland.  The 
whole  tone  of  his  discourse  is  free  from  what  John  Livinsiston 
calls  "  shows,"  being  precisely  what  it  always  was — passing  with 
childlike  ease  from  the  settling  of  a  bill  to  the  grace  and  glory  of 
the  gospel.  He  said,  "  I  have  this  morning  been  reviewing  the 
plan  of  salvation,  and  assuring  myself  of  my  acceptance  of  it.  I 
am  in  peace.  The  transition  from  this  world  to  another,  so 
utterly  unknown,  is  certainly  awful,  and  would  be  destructive, 
were  it  not  guarded  by  Christ ;  I  know  he  will  do  all  well." 

My  father,  with  an  authority  which  no  one  could  parley  with, 


164:  WHILE  PASTOR  OF   FIFTH   AYENTJE   CHIJECH. 

forbade  the  calling  in  of  any  city  physician,  declaring  his  view  of 
his  case,  and  his  perfect  satisfaction  at  what  was  done.  In  every 
sentence,  there  is  a  surprising  conciseness,  clearness,  and  weight 
of  command,  unlike  his  manner  in  latter  years  j  and  when  he 
has  given  orders,  he  adds,  "  Enough  for  that  point ;  let  me  speak 
of  another."  And  then,  "  I  have  done ;  you  must  leave  me." 
There  is  not  a  trifle  respecting  coal,  supplies,  &c.,  which  he  has 
not  settled.  He  yesterday  ordered  a  ten-dollar  library  to  be 
sent  to  a  minister  in  the  West.  My  father's  last  publication,  we 
suppose,  is  "  A  Disciple  "  in  the  November  American  Messenger. 
I  am  naturally  led  to  think  of  unseen  things,  and  am  strangely 
beset  with  mercies,  chastenings,  and  lessons.^ 

New  York,  November  26,  1851. 
We  have  got  into  our  new  house,  (22  West  Nineteenth  street,) 
but  are  not  yet  in  any  order.  What  they  will  do  at  Princeton  I 
know  not.  Whatever  changes  may  supervene,  I  earnestly  hope 
there  will  be  none  to  lower  the  general  standard  of  our  theologi- 
cal training.  There  is  a  view  of  it  in  which  one  minister  might 
teach  every  thing ;  but  if  we  would  maintain  that  high  ground 
which  I  solemnly  believe  American  ministers  now  have  in  com- 
parison with  those  of  other  countries,  we  must  have  at  least  one 
well-sustained  Seminary.  This  was  my  father's  great  desire, 
which  gained  strength  in  his  more  sober  hours,  and  formed  part 
of  his  dying  conversations  with  me.  I  am  troubled  in  my  mind 
at  the  sort  of  church  I  am  coming  to.  I  certainly  should  never 
have  accepted  the  call  if  I  had  dreamt  of  such  outlay.  I  fear  the 
total  exclusion  of  the  poor,  and  the  insufficiency  of  my  voice.  As 
I  had  no  hand  in  it,  and  know  myself  to  be  crossed  rather  than 
gratified  by  it,  I  hope  God  will  turn  it  to  some  good.  On  Sun 
day  I  urged  the  destitutions  of  New  York,  and  proposed  the 
erection  of  a  free  church  down  town.  On  Monday  a  man  whom 
I  never  knew  before  came  and  offered  me  $1,000  towards  it. 
We  cannot  hope  to  get  even  into  our  lecture-room  before  ]\Iay.^ 
Even  since  I  went  over  the  water  the  changes  here  are 
surprising.  Sabbath-traffic  and  grog-drinking  have  increased. 
The  whole  talk  now  is  about  Kossuth.  The  newpaper,  the 
"  Times,"  is  going  full  sail.  It  already  has  16,000  subscribers 
in  two  months.  Greeley  ["Tribune"]  writes  powerfully, 
when   he  lays   himself  out.     His  late  articles  on  Hughes  are 

^  Dr.  A.  Alexander  lingered  until  the  22d  day  of  the  month. 

=  While  the  church  was  building  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Nineteenth  Street,  the  congregation  worshipped  in  the  chapel  of  the  Univer- 
sity. The  first  sermon  of  the  pastor,  after  his  return  from  Europe,  was 
preached  there  on  the  26th  October. 


1851—1857.  165 

tremendous  batteries.  But  he  goes  full-length  with  the  Chap- 
man-Foxton- Westminster  Review  party.     His  book  on  Europe 

is  worth  reading,  though  sour.      P sends   me   the   proofs 

of  an  embryo  book  on  Charity.^     It  is raised  to  the  ^th 

power  ;  abuse  of  clergy ;  abuse  of  churches  ;  abuse  of  theology  ; 
everybody  wrong  but  moi ;  sneers  at  societies,  creeds,  cate- 
chisms, &c.,  &c. ;  yet,  after  all,  a  book  that  no  one  can  read 
without  deep  and  anxious  reflection.  The  mixture  of  truth  is 
great  and  suggestive,  and  the  style  is  tip-top,  sometimes  as  keen 
as  Pascal. 

Note  any  thing  you  can  remember  or  hear,  about  my  father's 
Philadelphia  labours.  Do  try  to  see  any  old  people  who  know. 
Could  not  you  find  old  Mr.  Nassau  %  Addison  and  I,  or  one  of 
us,  will,  Deo  adjuvante,  write  a  life.  The  MS.  autobiography  is 
voluminous,  but  only  for  material.  How  strangely  we  mis- 
judge often.     Dr.  Miller  left  not  one  line  of  diary  ! 

New  York,  December  2,  1851. 

Surely  there  are  divine  uses  of  pain  which  we  cannot  fully 
understand.  Nor  can  we  reason  much  about  the  rules  of  its 
mission  to  individuals.     The  amount  of  suffering  such  persons 

as and have  endured  often  amazes  and  puzzles  me. 

Yet  in 's  case  the  spiritual  joy  resulting  is  almost  as  specific 

as  of  a  medicine.  I  have  thought  much  of  this  as  a  point  in 
divinity.  The  Papists  have  missed  the  right  doctrine  of  pain  ; 
but  have  we  made  enough  of  it  %  Some  day  we  shall  see  what 
it  was  sent  on  good  people  for.  I  have  known  moments  when 
it  has  seemed  to  me  a  great  boon  to  have  the  will  broken,  and 
self-pleasing  mortified. 

We  are  among  a  good  many  open  lots  and  much  rubbish ; 
and  to  feeling,  as  far  from  the  New  York  I  knew,  as  if  in  an- 
other city.  I  find  a  good  smart  walk  from  here  to  Trinity 
Church  quite  tonical.  My  mind  works  incessantly  on  such* 
themes  as  these: — the  abounding  misery;  the  unreached  masses; 
the  waste  of  church  energy  on  the  rich  ;  its  small  operation  on 
the  poor ;  emigrant  wretchedness ;  our  boy-population ;  our 
hopeless  prostitutes  ;  our  4,000  grog-shops ;  the  absence  of  poor 
from  Presbyterian  churches  ;  the  farce  of  our  church-alms  ;  con- 
finement of  our  church-efforts  to  pew-holders  ;  the  do-nothing 
life  of  our  Christian  professors,  in  regard  to  the  masses ;  our 
copying  the  Priest  and  Levite  in  the  parable ;  our  need  of  a 
Christian  Lord  Bacon,  to  produce  a  Novum  Organon  of  philan- 
thropy ;    our  dread  of  innovation ;    our  luxury  and  pride.     I 

^  "  Xew  Themes  for  the  Protestant  Clergy."     Philadelphia  :  Lippincott 
&  Co. 


166  T^^HILE  PASTOR  OF  FIFTH   ATENUE   CHUECH. 

preached  twice  on  some  of  these  things  ;  but  I  work  at  the  lever 
very  feebly.  Since  I  saw  the  drinking-customs  of  Britain,  I  am 
almost  a  tee-totaller,  and  half-disposed  to  go  for  a  Maine  law 
against  venders  of  drink. 

After  settling  a  little  from  the  shocks  of  late  events,  and 
looking  back  on  my  tour,  I  find  my  judgment  of  differences 
among  Christians  somewhat  modified.  Surely  our  battle  is  too 
momentous,  to  leave  much  time  or  zeal  to  spend  on  niceties  of 
old  school  and  new.  Ah !  how  I  daily  feel  "  I  have  lost  my 
adviser  !  "  How  often,  "  I  must  tell  this  to  my  father,"  and  then 
I  awake  to  the  reality.  But  there  is  no  bitterness  in  the  reflec- 
tion. If  it  please  God  to  touch  our  sons,  our  work  will  seem 
more  clearly  less  needed  here. 

New  York,  December  20,  1851. 
This  morning,  being  on  an  errand,  I  saw  a  black-garbed  white- 
necked  procession  going  into  the  Irving  House.  It  was  the 
"  Evangelical  Clergy."  I  followed,  and  saw  Kossuth  again.  He 
looked  "commoner  and  worn.  Spencer  sermonized  him,  w^ith 
specs  and  ]\IS.  The  following  is  a  correct  report  of  the  Gover- 
nor's speech,  as  I  heard  it:  "m — m — m — (sh— sh— sh— )  'coun- 
try' (sh— sh)  ^the  most  free  country,'— (sh,)  '  Gentlemen,'— (sh) 

m — m — m — ." 

I  heard   every  word  of  Spencer's.     I  believe  K.  was  say- 
ing he  could  not  make  a  harangue,  but  would  answer  in  writing. 
He  declares  himself  a  Lutheran.     I  greatly  admire  his  frankness. 
He  loses  no  chance  of  showing  it.     He  is  getting  to  think  him- 
self a  messenger  of  God.     Some  of  his  expressions  smack  of  the 
Hegel  doctrine  of  God's  voice  being  the  voice  of  humanity. 
Colwell,  in  his  episcopo-mastix,  ["  New  Themes,"]  seems  to  be  in 
favour  of  a  plan  which  shall  dissolve  all  churches,  charities,  and 
associations,  and  solve  the  great  social  problem  by  this  formula, 
"  Let  every  man  be  perfectly  good."     This  is  the  avowed  conclu- 
sion of  his  strange  book.     The  reason  why  people  go  to  Cardinal 
Hughes  is,  I  think,  to  be  found  in  one  character  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  its  matchless  organization.     Me  judice,  we  shall  as  little 
counteract  it  by  the  dissolving  plan,  as  we  should  benefit  warftire 
by  disbanding  troops,  and  setting  each  warrior  on  his  own  hook. 
B comes  out  quite  a  war-man ;  so  suddenly  do  the  move- 
ment-people change  to  any  tune  which  will  make  the  mob  dance. 
Furnaces,  gas,  and  Croton  pipes  have  almost  literally  employed 
every  day  since  our  "  flitting,"  with  amendments.     Pipes  frozen, 
gasometer  ditto.     My  rent  is  $900,  in  a  very  narrow,  tawdry, 
shelly,  ambitious,  half-done  house.     The  neighbourhood,  how- 
ever, is  as  quiet  as  a  country  village. 


1851—1857.  167 

New  York,  December  31,  1851. 
Christmas    Day   saw    mo    in    nine    churches,    St.    Francis 
Xavier's,  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  St.  Joseph's,  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul,  St.  somebody's,  (German,)  Bellows's,  Grace  Church,  Cal- 
vary, and  J^Iuhlenberg's  little  Gothic  free-seat  chapel,  where  there 
was  at  7  and  8  communion,  and  at  9  a  baptism.     I  never  heard 
a  Unitarian  sermon  before  in  English.     B said  the  Unita- 
rians were  endeavouring  to  resume  the  "  feasts  and  fasts.       lie 
is  a  scholarly  wTiter,  and  a  theatrical  though  Yankee  speaker. 
Progress,  no  matter  what  Jesus  held;  theology  rising ;  let  every 
man  believe  as  much  as  he  can  ;  inspiration  untenable  ;  all  men 
are  Christians ;  Jesus  the  Head  of  the  Church,  i.  e.  of  humanity; 
the  great  matter  is  the  inith,  which  is  not  dogma,  but  bemg 
conscientious,  kind,  fond  of  freedom.     All  Christians  in  three 
classes,  church-m^w,  creeds-mQ\\  and  life-men.     All  through  he 
essayed  a  sort  of  mysticism,  and  wrought  himself  into  a  factitious 
peroration-heat  about  coming  days,  fight  of  freedom,  martyr 
spirit,  &c.     It  was  fearful  to  see  genteel  and  moneyed  sons  of 
New  England  trying  to  take  in  his  Emersonian  rhetoric  and 
ultra-libenality.     There  was  nothing  redeeming  but  the  style, 
which  was  elegant,  novel,  startling,  and  a  little  affected.     Voice 
very  rich  in  low  notes ;  but  he  plays  with  it,  and  lapses  when 
earnest  into  a  Yankee  tune.     I  feel  a  great  admiration  of  Kos- 
suth, especially  since  reading  Madame  Pulsky's  Memoirs,  and 
History  of  the  War.     But  the  tide  already  ebbs  here.     Stocks 
would  fall  if  the  Hungarian  tricolour  should  rise  ;  and  our  canny 
capitalists  go  by  that.     Young  men  and  workies  take  on  the 
natural  enthusiasm.     The  ministers  who  preached  against  the 
slave-law,  preach  for  Kossuth.    As  you  will  see  by  my  "  Travels, 
I  M-as  quite  prepared  to  hear  of  the  coiqy  cVetat     The  great  quality 
which  it  needs  is  yet  to  be  revealed— military  genius  ;  this  made 
Cffisar,  Cromwell,  and  "  mon  oncle."     I  do  not  believe  any  true 
news  gets  to  us  yet  by  newspapers.     The  Canada  brings  three 
days  later,  but  no  change. 

New  York,  January  19,  1852, 
My  young  men  are  about  to  employ  a  man  who  speaks 
the  Irish,  and  has  laboured  twenty  years  in  Connaught,  to 
look  up  the  "strangers  scattered  abroad"  in  this  city.  My 
late  church  is  occupied  by  several  hundred  emigrant  flimilies. 
What  a  pathos  there  is  in  every  thing  connected  with  Mr.  Clay  s 
last  days !  There  seems  to  be  some  good  reason  to  view  him  as 
a  converted  man.  At  no  time  have  we  had  a  greater  concurrence 
of  good  news  from  our  Foreign  Missions  :  accessions  of  converts 
in  almost  all.     The  China  men  are  an  extraordinary  corps,  and 


168  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHTJECH. 

their  work  is  going  on  Avitli  great  energy.  We  to-day  appro- 
priated $1,000  for  another  chapel  at  Ningpo ;  and  had  notice  of 
an  equal  gift  from  an  individual  for  the  same  purpose.  After 
years  of  defeat  our  Foreign  Board  is  at  length  incorporated,  un- 
der the  recent  law  of  this  State.  Broadway  is  a  carnival  of 
sleighs.  The  noise,  glee,  turn-outs,  and  throngs  are  quite  a  Rus- 
sian spectacle.  SchafF  has  a  vehement  and  very  able  article 
against  Kossuth's  notions.  Dr.  Spring  told  me  he  lately  sat  at 
his  sermon-desk  from  9  A.  M.  to  7  P.  M.  without  dinner ;  but 
felt  worse  for  it.  His  morning  services  are  over-crowded, 
which  can  be  said  of  no  other  Presbyterian  assembly  here.  One 
can't  help  feeling  an  admiration  for  Louis  Napoleon's  quiet  force 
in  his  coup  d'etat.  Several  priests  said  to  me  in  Paris,  that  the 
only  hope  for  religion  was  the  putting  down  of  the  rouges,  (sc. 
rogues.)  They  talked  of  this  much  as  we  should  have  done,  iDut 
I  dare  say  with  an  eye  to  their  own  power.  Father  Delual, 
once  principal  of  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  but  now  retired 
at  the  great  College  de  St.  Sulpice,  [page  146,]  spoke  to  me  in 
his  nice  little  chamber  with  high  admiration  of  Sibour,  the  arch- 
bishop of  Paris,  who  was  also  a  Sulpician,  and  his  coeval.  The 
adhesion  of  Louis  Napoleon  to  a  church  very  much  in  the 
ascendant  in  France  gives  a  basis  to  his  power  which  was  want- 
ing to  "  mon  oncle"  at  the  eighteenth  Brumaire.   M reports 

the  Popish  churches  as  unfrequented.  I  spent  much  of  my  days 
in  them  at  Paris,  and  saw  a  very  different  sight.  Not  women 
only,  but  men  in  great  numbers.  I  was  particularly  struck 
with  the  great  numbers  of  children  and  youth  under  drill,  often 
hundreds  together,  preparing  the  motions,  &c.,  for  processions. 
At  Dijon,  I  was  present  at  a  catechizing,  in  an  ancient  church ; 
the  cure  sat,  and  was  lecturing  a  host  of  boys  on  a  point  of 
Christian  morals.  I  spent  my  time  on  the  pictures,  but  Maj. 
Preston  heard  it  for  some  time  and  pronounced  it  very  sound. 
When  we  consider  that  France  was  all  but  atheistic,  we  must 
regard  even  the  acquisitions  of  Popery  as  conversions  to  a  sorb 
of  Christianity.  I  find  it  very  hard  to  swallow  the  tenet,  that 
the  existing  church  of  Rome  is  incapable  of  being  improved,  and 
is  to  be  looked  at  only  as  for  hell-fire.  My  prophetic  specs  are 
very  dim.  When  Louis  XVIII.  was  restored,  Bernadotte  said  to 
him  at  a  dinner  of  the  sovereigns  :  "  Faites-vous  craindre.  Sire, 
et  ils  vous  aimeront :  sauvez  seulement  avec  eux  I'honneur  et  les 
apparences  :  ayez  tin  r/ant  de  velours  sur  une  main  de  ferP  He 
knew  the  French,  and  Louis  Napoleon  seems  to  adopt  his  maxim.^ 

^  While  this  is  in  the  printers  hands,  "the  eldest  son  of  the  Church"  is 
giving  a  new  exemphfication  of  the  velvet  glove  on  the  iron  hand,  in  his 
policy  with  the  Pope. 


1851— 185T.  169 

I  am  pleased  that  our  collections  are  increased,  notwithstand- 
ing church-building.  I  never  had  so  many  volunteer  offerings 
for  poor.  One  man  has  offered  $1,000  now,  and  $500  a  year 
towards  a  Eagged  School,  and  another  $1,000  towards  a  free 
church.  Another  promises  to  keep  me  in  books  for  the  poor  as 
long  as  I  live.  The  Irvingite  Prayer  Book  is  very  good,  being 
compiled  with  much  taste  from  the  ancient  liturgies.  They  have 
"  seven  churches  in  London,"  as  headquarters,  with  their  respec- 
tive angels.  But  there  are  angels  in  other  churches.  The  tw^elve 
"  apostles  "  are  for  great  countries.     Ours  is  Woodhouse,  who 

is  not  here  at  present.     We  are  served  by  F and  M , 

probably  prophet  and  angel.  It  is  a  consistent  Puseyism.  The 
Advent  is  not  made  so  prominent  as  unity,  real  presence,  prayer 
for  dead  and  extraordinary  x^P^^I^^"^^-  They  profess  great 
peaceableness,  and  ask  no  one  to  their  meetings.  Daily  prayers 
at  6  and  5.  Several  University  men  are  among  their  speakers. 
They  have  ample  vestments,  and  no  metrical  psalmody.  Their 
Psalter  has  some  odd  things,  e.  g.  : 

"  He  that  doeth  these  things 
Sha  . .  .  U  never  be  moved.'''' 
—  "  My  li . .  .ps  shall  praise  thee.''''     Et  sic  passim. 

New  York,  February  13,  1852. 

I  don't  know  w^hether  it  is  so  elsewhere,  but  here  the  Valen- 
tines have  become  a  plague.  As  the  day  approaches,  whole  rows 
of  shops  of  every  sort  fill  their  windows  with  valentines,  from  a 
penny  up,  wdiich  from  having  been  amatory  have  become  cynical 
and  opprobrious,  affording  boobies  and  snobs  an  opportunity  of 
venting  cheap  gall  on  a  neighbour.  For  the  first  I  find  some 
tending  to  irreligion.  You  have  seen  the  account  of  the  perfec- 
tionism and  promiscuous  abomination.^  How  few  cards  after 
all  the  devil  has  in  his  pack ;  this  is  only  the  '•  Brethren  and 
Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit "  over  again.  It  more  than  fulfils  pre- 
dictions made  by  Nettleton,  which  at  the  time  I  thought  absurd. 

A  youth  died  the  other  day,  at  19,  who  said  he  had  used 
every  day  for  eleven  years  a  prayer  I  gave  him  on  a  card,  wdien 
my  catechumen. 

I  am  getting  to  think  professing  religion  much  less  pre- 
sumptive of  grace,  than  once  I  did.  Nor  do  I  see  that  any 
strictness  at  the  door  helps  the  matter.  Have  we  not  added  to 
the  New  Testament  notion  of  communicating  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per 1     The  anabaptist  essays  at  a  church  of  pure  regenerate 

^  Public  assemblies  held  in  Broadway  of  the  advocates  of  "  Free  Love  "— 
eventually  suppressed  by  the  police. 

VOL.  II. — 8 


ITO  WHILE   PASTOE   OF  FIFTH  A'VT:NrE   CHTJECH. 

believers  have  not  worked  well.  I  used  the  word  "  catecliuineii " 
in  the  vulgar  sense ;  but  the  KaTr]xov}xevo%  was  as  such  unbap- 
tized— under  schooling— long  watched— slowly  indoctrinated. 
The  Church  as  a  school  has  declined ;  hence  the  Sunday  School 
has  been  built  up  alongside. 

New  York,  February  25,  1852. 
The  meeting  for  prayer  this  morning  at  St.  George's  [Epis 
copal  church]  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  things  I  have  seen  foi 
a  long  time.     Dr.  Spring  made  an  address  and  a  prayer  such  as 
few  but  he  can  utter.     Dr.  Potts  was  in  a  tender  melting  frame, 
and  prayed  so  as  to  carry  a  large  assembly  up  with  him.     I  had 
not  heard  of  Mrs.  L.'s  death.     Brooklyn  is,  as  to  any  visits, 
about  as  far  as  Trenton.     I  was  this  very  day  meditating  a  j  ourney 
thither  to  see  her  ;  but  daily  visits  of  three  to  four  hours  have  by 
no  means  allowed  me  to  "  overtake  "  my  pressing  parochialia.    I 
agree  anent  Webster,  and  was  going  to  write  so.     Moreover,  his 
estimates  of  Livy,  &c.,  are  equal  to  the  Sophomore  class.     His 
comparison  of  Sallust  to  Dr.  Johnson  is  absurd.'     I  don't  yet 
believe  in  the  Maine  law.     The  radical  principles  of  the  whole 
scheme  are  rotten.      1.  The  Bible  speaks   well  of  wine,  even 
as  cxiiilarant.      2.   Christ  chose,  for  a  sempiternal  ordinance, 
that  thing,  which  of  all  others  is  (according  to  Maine)  what  ought 
to   be   everlastingly  absent.      3.  Islam    (according   to   Maine) 
IS   ahead   of    Christianity.      4.    The    Decalogue    is    defective, 
for  the  first  command  ought  to  be,  "  Thou  shalt  not  drink."     5. 
If  what  they  say  is  true,  pledr/ing  is  not  the  way  ;  else,  why  not 
pledge  never  to  touch  thai,  the  love  of  which  is  a  root  of  all 
evil  ?  or  never  to  lie  ?     6.  It  is  questionable  whether  the  true 
ethical  principle  is  to  remove  all  material  of  sin.     7.  We  have 
too  many  laws  already  Avhich  can't  be  enforced. 

I  can't  help  seeing  that  the  apostolic  preaching  could  never 
have  been  conformable  to  prophecies  in  John  xiv.-xvii.,  unless 
greatly  different  from  our  Lord's.  Progress  and  development 
mark  all  the  teachings  through  his  and  theirs  to  the  end.  I  look 
on  a  system  as  a  mere  report  of  x^rogress  in  understanding  Scrip- 
ture, at  a  given  point  in  history.  Our  preached  system  differs 
from  the  Confession  of  Faith,  both  by  addition  and  subtraction. 
I  have  heard  [R.  W.  ]  Emerson.  There  is  a  singular  fascina- 
tion in  his  delivery  of  his  sentences.  These  end  in  a  surprise, 
almost  always,  and  he  artfully  stammers  and  halts,  so  as^  to 
make  expectation  extreme.  No  gesture.  No  outlay  of  voice. 
Yet  he  keeps  you  intensely  anxious  to  hear  his  soft,  hesitating 

^  The  allusion  is  to  Mr.  Webster's  unfortunate  selection  of  a  classical 
subject  for  a  discourse  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 


1851—1857.  ITl 

tones.    A  disjointed  series  of"  good  things."    Audiences  not  large ; 
apparently  New  England  residents,  ladies,  uppish  clerks,  &c. 

Carlyle's  Life  of  Sterling  is  a  dreadful  book,  to  popularize 
Pantheism,  warm  up  the  swelling  germs  of  doubt  in  young 
minds,  and  prepare  the  soil  for  every  extreme.     I  nowhere  tind 
in  English,  except  in  Th.   Parker,  such  dark  menaces.  ^  It  is 
evident  C.  converted  S.  from  a  mere  nominal  Christian  into  a 
black  despairing  skeptic.     The  Irvingites  have  a  great  propor- 
tion of  persons  out  of  the  most  indoctrinated  circles ;  most  ot 
their  prophets,  &c.,  having  Episcopal  orders,  and  several  privates 
known  to  me  being  Presbyterian,  and  even  Seceder-bred.     feix 
scribes  take  down  the  dicta  of  the  prophets.     Judge  Story  was 
a  great  man;  but  as  to  enthusiasm  in  professional  studies  I 
have  no  doubt  a  hundred  American  clergymen  have  as  much. 
In  this  one  point  I  do  not  see  him  to  surpass  Stuart,  Kobmson, 
Hodo-e  or  Barnes.     In  extra-professional  literature  he  seems  to 
me  inferior  to  any  one  of  these.     I  admit  that  our  period  is  sin- 
gularly barren  of  great  divines  and  great  preachers,     let  the 
average  working  talent,  I  apprehend,  was  never  greater.     As  to 
what  IS  called  pulpit  eloquence,  I  grow  in  disbelief  of  its  impor- 
tance     The  gaping  multitudes  who  fill  churches  are  little  reached, 
as  to  the  main  matter.      Worship  is  certainly  overshadowed  by 
our  sermons.     How  few  quoters  of  our  Directory  ever  quote  p. 
497  where  the  sermon  is  compared  with  "  the  07iore  important 
duties  of  prayer   and  praise."  — Quere :    Whether  we  do   not 
err  in  ciphering  so  much  about  the  time,  men,  and  money  it  will 
take  to  convert  the  world  1     Whether  God's  plan  is  not  to  work 
upon,  in,  and  by  a  peculiar  people,  elect  and  called ;    ckXcktol  I 
Whether  his  plan  may   not  be  doing  well,  even  though  m  a 
"  little  flock  " '?    Whether  the  other  world  is  not  the  great  collection 
of  saints  1  Whether  God  is  not  taking  out  of  this  world  a  con- 
stant select  addition  to  that  ^    And  whether,  consequently,  both 
hopes  and  fears  do  not  mislead  us,  as  to  the  extensiveness  ot 

Absurd  as 'it  sounds,  the  spiritual-knocking  business  is  like 
to  be  really  alarming.  If  Satan  ever  interferes,  one  might  think 
it  would  be  in  such  mesmeric  and  analogous  delusions.  1  am 
told  there  are  scores  of  distinct  and  stated  meetings  m  tomi,  tor 
these  spiritual  investigations.  Miss  Martineau,  in  her  late  book, 
avows  high-mesmerism  and  utter  atheism. 

New  York,  April  3,  1852. 
I  attended  the  funeral  of  M.  E.,  on  the  1st  inst.,  cet.  13. 
She  had  been  of  my  catechizing  class,  and  was,  I  trust,  a  renewea 
child.     I  am  expecting  soon  to  go  to  the  grave  of  M.  b.,  wUo  is 


172  WHILE   PASTOK   OF   FIFTH   AVENrE   CHUECH. 

sinking  flist,  but  with  the  loveliest  aspect  I  ever  saw  death  put 
on.  Her  sayings  are  as  worthy  of  record,  as  those  of  any 
woman  I  have  read  of.  Her  mother  and  sister,  who  both  died 
of  consumption,  had  just  such  blessings  in  their  decline.  Mr. 
Lowrie  is  going  to  visit  our  Western  Indians.  The  death  of  Dr. 
Wm.  S.  Potts,  of  St.  Louis,  is  truly  a  solemn  event.  He  had 
attained  great  eminence  and  influence,  without  the  employment 
of  any  arts,  or  the  perpetration  of  oddities.^ 

Grote's  Greece  is  a  wonderful  book.  He  is  a  hot  radical, 
but  a  great  scholar  and  historian.  His  style  is  true  English  ;  no 
balance,  rhythm,  or  expected  cadence ;  his  mind  is  John  Bull-ish, 
as  much  as  Gifford's,  (they  say  /ifford  in  England,)  and  there  is 
no  flummery  or  fog  of  any  sort.  You  read  his  account  of 
debates  at  Athens,  with  the  same  matter-o'-fact  feeling,  as  when 
you  read  about  a  debate  in  Parliament.  All  is  made  to  uphold 
democracy. 

New  Orleans  seems  to  be  the  small  end  of  Kossuth's  horn. 
What  a  pity,  to  see  the  noblest  fellow  living  kill  himself  by 
"  power  of  slack-jaw,"  as  Yellowplush  has  it.  What  extremity  of 
asinine  folly,  to  prefer  a  Parisian  education !  Except  for  the 
name  of  it,  French  is  of  no  more  use  to  women  than  Cherokee. 

I  think  with  all  its  airiness  and  sweetness  the  up-town  is  less 
agreeable  to  me  than  the  old  parts.  I  feel  more  at  home  among 
the  noise  and  kennels.  A  wealthy,  zealous  Norwegian,  is  here  ; 
he  lent  the  American  Bible  Society  $50,000,  unasked,  without 
security,  for  their  new  edifice.  We  are  near  the  moving  season. 
A  number  of  my  people  are  coming  up.  I  think  not  five  fami- 
lies of  my  old  charge  are  below. 

We  have  not  the  least  stir  in  our  congregation ;  but  at  no 
time  have  I  known  so  many  persons  under  a  deep  religious  con- 
cern. I  have  perceived  something  unusual  in  the  manner  of 
hearers,  for  some  weeks.  The  proportion  of  non-professors  in 
our  assembly  is  small.  In  every  place  where  I  have  been,  I 
have  observed  that  I  never  have  marked  increase  of  hearers,  but 
always  a  striking  adhesiveness  in  those  who  come.  We  are  suf- 
fering greatly  for  want  of  a  good  place  for  meeting ;  it  is  most 
obvious  in  our  weekly  lecture.  A  lady  came  to  me  under  great 
convictions,  produced  by  the  funeral  services  of  E.  B. 

Think  of  3,000  Chinese  in  California !  One  of  our  Canton 
missionaries  writes,  that  there  were  forty  vessels  in  that  port 
preparing  for  California.  I  am  looking  to  the  printing  of  a  few 
hymns  in  Hungarian,  for  a  little  congregation  of  Mr.  Acs,  (pro- 
nounced something  like  our  old  school-phrase   Ouch  /)     More 

^  There  is  a  memoir  of  Dr.  Potts  in  Dr.  Sprague's  Annals,  vol.  4. 


1851—1857-  173 

than  $20,000  have  been  raised  here  within  a  few  weeks,  towards 
the  endowment  of  the  still  unendowed  chair  at  Princeton. 

My  health  has  not  been  improving  lately.  Constant  pas- 
toral visits  and  anxieties,  and  mental  work  without  relaxation, 
have  run  me  down  exceedingly,  so  that  I  am  sleepless  in  a  good 
many  nights,  and  quite  nervous  by  day. 

I  have  my  father's  little  book  on  Moral  Philosophy  very  near 
publication.  I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  throw  in  a  Preface.  It 
will  rank  with  his  Evidences,  but  will  awaken  more  opposition. 
He  wrote  nothing  more  simple,  clear,  or  convincing.  It  is  the 
only  work  which  he  left  ready.  Among  his  papers,  the  only 
diaries  are  a  few,  (chiefly  in  cipher,)  of  which  the  earliest  goes 
back  to  £et.  17. 

Does  any  one  properly  estimate  the  approaching  certain 
influence  of  the  Germans,  as  a  power  in  our  country  ?  I  often 
hear  as  much  German  as  English  in  my  day's  walk.  Of  all  the 
Protestant  portion,  nine-tenths  are  infidel.  All  I  meet  with  are 
radical.  Most  of  the  German  newspapers  are  infidel,  and  some 
blasphemous.  A  friend  of  mine  heard  some  talking  yesterday  ; 
one  said,  "  Our  grand  error  in  Germany  was  not  using  the 
guillotine  ;  let  them  employ  it  freely,  and  let  them  begin  with 
the  PietistenP  The  second  Psalm  comes  to  my  mind  as  afford- 
ing the  only  hope. 

Neat  York,  May  4,  1852. 

I  almost  envy  you  your  chance  of  going  to  Charleston.^  I 
have  always  wanted  to  see  that  proudest  specimen  of  sumptuous 
slaveholding  hospitality.  Try  to  see  Dr.  Smyth's  library.^ 
Perhaps  I  will  enclose  a  letter  to  my  classmate,  W.  P.  Einley, 
President  of  the  Charleston  College. 

When  elected  Moderator,  the  properest  speech  may  be  from 
these  heads  :  "  Unexpected — seldom  in  the  chair — most  will 
depend  on  members — good  intention  will  atone  for  inexperi- 
ence— will  know  no  section  or  party,"  &c. 

I  wish  I  could  see  my  way  clear  to  promise  you  pulpit  aid. 
But  I  am  so  sure  to  have  to  flee  myself,  when  it  grows  hot,  that 
appearances  demand  pretty  fall  labor  from  me  as  long  as  I  can. 
Something  may  indeed  turn  up  to  make  the  thing  practicable ; 
and  it  would  be  very  pleasant  to  me.  Yesterday  it  was  a 
Erench  minister  seeking  a  place,  to-day  it  is  an  Irish  one.  These 
Irish  think  "  vacancies  "  are  gaping  for  them  as  soon  as  they 
disembark.     They  have  no  drawings  towards  the  bush.     I  ob- 

^  Where  the  General  Assembly  was  to  hold  its  meeting. 
'^  Now  the  property  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia,  South 
Carolina. 


174:  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHrECH. 

serve  an  absence  of  all  "  onction "  in  all  Irish  Presbyterian 
preachers.  It  is  very  different  with  the  modern  Scotch  school. 
Guthrie  of  Edinburgh  talks  of  coming  hither  for  a  jaunt. 
Guthrie  draws  more  crowds  than  anybody  since  Chalmers.  He 
has  both  poetry  and  wit,  with  plenty  of  fire.  I  hope  to  receive 
next  Sunday  about  twenty  on  certificate,  and  seven  on  examina- 
tion. I  hope  you  mean  to  go  by  sea.  The  change  is  so  entire, 
and  so  breaks  the  home-thread,  that  I  know  nothing  like  it. 
Don't  forget  summer  clothes.  Verify  the  rumour,  that  the  com- 
mon Charlestonians  say  wen  for  when,  wail  for  wliale^  peer  for 
lKm\  fare  for  fear^  and  steers  for  stairs.  Find  out  whether 
South  Carolina  extempore  preaching  is  the  best  a-going.  I  wish 
for  you  that  protection  and  happiness,  which  were  vouchsafed  to 
me  so  largely  by  sea  and  land.^ 

^  I  throw  into  the  margin  a  piece  of  playful  satire  on  style  and  sentiment 
which  he  addressed  to  me  at  this  time. 

Hard  Shell  Bottom,  S.  C,  Matj  3, 1S52. 
Eet.  dear  Brother, — On  yesterday  I  was  first  aware  of  your  being  a 
commissioner  to  the  General  Assembly.  Sentimentally  accordant  with  you, 
though  differing  perhaps  in  my  verbage,  I  would  have  defined  my  position 
in  regard  to  true  blue  Presbyterianism,  if  I  hadn't  have  gotten  an  impression 
that  you  were  tinctured  with  Princetouism.  I  didn't  have  any  test,  till 
going  to  dinner  yesterday  evening,  I  received  a  statement  tantamount  to  a 
denial  of  the  above.  No  unreliableness  of  my  informant  will  prevent  my 
approbating  his  sentiments  on  the  issue  about  to  be  made,  since  a  crisis  has 
arrived  in  the  affairs  of  our  beloved  Church.  Talented  men  in  our  Southern 
country  think  I  would  have  done  better  if  I  would  have  consented  to  have 
given  you  my  views  on  Boards.  If  we  do  not  return  to  the  basis  of  Scotch 
testimony,  we  will  go  to  the  gulf  of  Erastianism,  and  we  will  become  a  bye- 
word  in  the  camp  of  the  Philistines.  It  is  mighty  easy  to  talk  of  the  Boards 
of  the  Church  as  doing  a  great  work.  Unless  arrested  in  their  nefarious 
derelictions,  they  will  stultify  us,  by  bringing  in  a  class  of  ministers  who  are 
merely  literary  men,  ready  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  demons  of  choirs  and  organs. 
It  is  high  time  to  testify  against  carpets  in  churches  ;  a  rag  of  the  scarlet 
woman  which  has  been  privily  brought  in.  As  I  lately  said  to  brother  Mc- 
Rouse,  "show  me  the  pattern  of  the  carpet  which  Paul  and  Silas  were  on, 
at  Philippi,  and  I  will  use  it  in  the  Hard  Shell  Church."  Note-books  are 
against  the  second  commandment,  and  also  the  fourth.  They  were  unknown 
to  the  primitive  age.  Sol,  fa,  me,  &c.,  are  clearly  from  the  man  of  sin,  and 
are  nearly  as  bad  as  cruciform  churches,  being  taken  by  a  rank  massmonger, 
Guido  Aretini,  from  an  idolatrous  hymn, 

"  Ut  queant  laxis  resonare  fibris,"  &c 

The  practice  of  tokens  and  of  lining  hymns  went  out  when  reading  sup- 
planted preaching.  Who  knows  but  our  sons  may  see  the  day  when  the 
paternoster  may  be  used  in  public  prayer ! 

Eev.  dear  Brother,  contend  for  the  fiiith  against  all  new  light  and  North- 
ern innovations.     I  am  yours  in  bonds,  &c. 

Duncan  McKillikrankie, 


1851—1857.  175 

New  York,  May  24,  1852. 
Ask  President  Finley,  with  my  regards,  after  any  of  our 
colleo-e  friends.     I  have  my  father's  little  "  Outlines  of  Moral 
Philosophy  "  in  press,  as  well  as  an  8vo  of  my  own,  intituled 
"  Consolation,"  &c. ;  a  rifaccimento  of  about  eighteen  sermons. 
Do  any  thing  you  deem  discreet,  even  by  placard  or  advertise- 
ment, to  get  letters  of  my  father  ;  this  is  like  to  be  the  desidera- 
tum ;  especially  letters  before  1812.     "  Use  a  little  (port)  wine 
for  thy  stomach's  sake  "  while  in  the  tropics,  and  follow  the  in- 
stinct of  all  hot  countries,  by  increasing  your  spicery.     A  rum- 
bling betokens  new  troubles  with  Mexico.     Have  we  not  whip- 
ped them  enough  1    Wicked  as  it  is,  I  believe  the  manifest  destiny 
will  annex  Cuba,  and,  as  Punch  says,  promote  free^  trade  to 
Japan  by  opening  our  ports  on  the  Japanese.     God  reigns,  even 
in  wars,  and  truth  has  made  its  way  very  often  through  the 
breaches  opened  by  conquest.     M.'s  new  book  is  very  little 
talked  about,  while  50,000  copies  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  are 
sold,  and  100,000  will  be.     Yet  the  nigger-talk  of  the  book  is 
often   pure   Yankee.     Dogwoods   and  lilacs  are   the   blossoms 
which  denote  our  time  of  year.     This  day  last  year  I  embarked. 
Time  was  when  I  would  have  attempted  to  give  you  some  public 
news,  but  newspapers  and  telegraphing  have  taken  this  pleasure 
clean  away  from  us  poor  epistlers.     M.'s  case  is  not  yet  de- 
cided in  court,  though  it  can  go  only  in  his  favours  (as  the  Scots 
say  ;)  they  also  say  severals.     Not  one  descendant  of  Scotchmen 
in  a'hundred  ever  gets  his  shoulds  right.     Dr.  C.  would  be  sure 
to  say,  "  I  would  think  he  ought  to  accept,"  or  even,  "  if  the 
mail  would  come,"  &c.     No  Englishman  or  New  Englandman 
ever  goes  wrong  here.     Hence  the  prevalence  of  the  woulds 
among  southern  Presbyterians.     S.  is  one  of  the  few  who  more 
AnqUcano  writes,  "  The  Assembly,  it  sliould  seem,  has  a  modera- 
tor."   Here  endeth  the  first  lesson  in  subjunctives.    American 
lawyers  are  much  honoured  in  Westminster  Hall.     I  see  what  I 
said  as  my  hearing  confirmed  by  an  English  paper,  which  speaks 
of  My  luds  and  my  lud  as  universal  at  the  bar.     I  heard  Earl 
Derby  say  so  repeatedly  in  the  House  of  Lords.      And  every 
Englishmen  I  heard  said  cort  for  court,  and  morning  for  mourn- 
ing* &c.     The  only  Walkerian  pronunciation  I  heard  was  from 
Irishmen,  gyard,  kyarnal,  shjie,  ki/ined,  &c. 

The  Directors  in  Princeton  joined  Polemic  to  Didactic 
Theology  again,  but  did  nothing  anent  the  vacant  chair.  They 
rescinded  their  former  recommendation  about  a  fifth  chair. 

You  are  now  in  the  focus  of  light  and  heat,  while  I  have 
nothing  to  say.  I  am  glad  you  like  Charleston ;  the  city  and 
people,  I  am  led  to  think,  have  as  much  a  character  of  their 


176  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AYEXUE    CHUECH. 

own,  as  Philadelphia  and  Boston  once  had,  and  as  New  York 
never  will  have. 

If  any  one's  thoughts  turn  toward  the  Germans  in  America, 
do  give  it  a  serious  consideration.  1.  The  immigration  thence 
is  enormous.  2.  Famine,  &c.,  will  increase  it.  3.  They  will 
soon  be  "  a  powxr  "  in  State  and  Church.  4.  The  Protestant 
part  (a  full  moiety)  is  largely  infidel.  5.  The  existing  German 
Christians  in  the  United  States  are  either  poor,  or  devoid  of 
missionary  zeal  and  tact.  Nothing  is  to  be  hoped  from  them. 
6.  The  German  Reformed  Church  is  mad  after  a  delusive  tran- 
scendentalism, and  has  endorsed  it.  7.  The  call  on  us  is  greater 
than  that  of  any  lohite  portion  of  the  world. 

A  common  man  said  to-day  dowm-town  :  "  The  New  School 
Men  do  not  discover  that  the  secret  of  Old  School  efficiency  and 
increase  lies  in  tenacity  of  doctrine,  and  Uberaliti/  of  sentiment. ^^ 

New  York,  June  21,  1852. 
I  am  in  a  very  false  position  as  to  my  edifice,  [its  costliness ;] 
while  I  never  saw  a  congregation  so  suited  to  me.  They  are  all 
drawn  around  me,  by  partiality  for  my  explanatory  and  un- 
coloured  ministrations.  For  years  I  have  seen  people  who  want 
to  hear  oratory,  &c.,  come  once  or  twice,  and  then  depart. 
Elderly  and  afflicted  persons,  of  the  plainer  sort,  are  chiefly  those 
who  drop  in.  Once  I  scuffled  to  be  other  than  I  am ;  now  I  see 
a  providence  in  it,  and  even  rejoice.  I  look  back,  and  see  that  I 
have  often  erred  by  trjdng  to  be  (1)  more  original  than  I  am, 
(2)  more  animated ;  especially  No.  2.  No  man  can  be  any- 
body else.     Don't  you,  as  you  go  on,  feel  increasing  complacency 

in  variety  of  gifts  ?     We  could  not  miss  a ,  or  a ,  little 

as  you  or  I  flmcy  them.  I  was  pleased,  when  a  friend  of 
McNeile's  said :  "  He  is  a  teacher.''''  That  we  can  all  be.  If 
tears  break  out — well ;  but  the  teaching  is  effective,  sans  halloo 
and  spasm.  I  have  lately  had  unusual  comfort  in  my  lectures, 
by  omitting  my  little  notes  of  one  or  two  pages  ;  and,  after  hard 
study  of  the  context  and  more  of  the  words,  going  on  without 
any  sort  of  MS.  The  briefest  notes  ripple  and  detain  the 
current.  This  method  I  seldom  venture  on,  on  Sundays  ;  for  in 
the  morning  I  read  every  word — usually.  The  j)ast  winter  has 
been  one  of  too  unremitted  labour ;  I  am  conscious  of  ha\dng 
had  a  pride  which  made  me  do  double  duty,  to  prepare  for  the 
incapacities  of  summer.  The  consequence  is,  that  my  nervous 
system  is  very  much  shattered.  I  do  not  feel  it  inter  loquendum, 
but  afterwards  and  in  any  excitement  which  unmans  me.  God 
rules — but  I  have  serious   apprehensions  about  being  able  to 


1851—1857.  177 

bear  up.     I  find  my  four-mile  heat,  ^yalki^g  to  the  UnlveTsitv, 
quite  disabling. 

The  German  singing-bands  from  all  parts,  are  to  be  here  in 
tremendous  force.  They  do  the  thing  German-fashion,  for  several 
days,  with  garlands,  torch-processions,  picnics,  choruses,  and 
wine.  I  was  at  a  German  (Presbyterian)  meeting  t'other  night, 
where  about  150  made  as  much  hymn-noise,  as  any  ten  of  our 
assemblies.     I  think  to  go  to  Newport  about  the  2d. 


Newport,  July  31,  1852, 
After  four  weeks  at  the  Bellevue,  I  came  to  lodging  in  Broad 
street,  where  we  have  a  good,  table  and  good  rooms.     Nothing 
delights  me  more  in  Newport  than  the  oldness  of  its  old  parts. 
I  know  nothing  so  English ;    the  narrow  streets  and  trottoirs, 
street-gables,  overhanging  eaves  and  even  stories,  square  case- 
ments, vines,  d:c,,  every  thing  but  the  material  of  the  houses. 
Generally  the  temperature  has  been  such,  that  any  more  coolness 
would  have  been  unpleasant.     I  was  out  fifteen  hours  in  a  sail 
boat ;  having  two  calms  and.  a  small  gale.     These  waters  are 
singularly  varied  and  beautiful.     The  healthiness  of  Newport  is 
vouched  by  the  extraordinary  number  of  very  old  people.     The 
boys  and  girls  play  in  the  streets  of  the  old  parts,  almost  as 
freely  as  in  France.     The  talk  among  squads  at  the  corners  is 
not   horse-talk,  as  with  us,  but   always   sea-talk.     I   have  not 
developed  any  taste  for  fishing,  of  the  kind  here  practised.     1 
should   almost   as    soon  think  of  taking  a  day  at  butchering. 
Neither  do  I  admire  the  sea-fish  as  food.     My  boys  have,  how 
ever,  made  up   in   both  ways  for  any  delinquencies  of  mine. 
What  a  charming  writer  Hawthorne  is !     I  greatly  prefer  him 
to  Irving.     His  sea-side  descriptions  (in  "  Twice  told  Tales  ") 
smack  of  the  very  beach  and  surf.     I  have  been  to  Bristol, 
which  is  just  a  smaller  Newport;  on  a  very  beautiful  bay,  not 
far  from  Mt.  Hope,  the  home  of  King  Philip.     I  have  read  two 
lives  of  Roger  Williams,  hei-e  among  his  haunts,  with  great  ad- 
miration of  that  eccentric  old  hero.     In  respect  to  mere  bathing, 
I  do  not  consider  Newport  namable  along  side  of  Cape  May 
or  even  Long  Branch.     Unless  you  walk,  every  dip  costs  37^ 
cents.     The  times  for  bathing  without  dress,  are  much  restricted ; 
and  every  thing  goes  by  hours,  not  by  tides.     But  the  air  is 
incomparable ;  indeed  I  should  wax  extravagant,  if  I  said  all  I 
think  of  it.     This  is  the  Shiloh  of  New  England  quakerism. 
The  orthodox  preponderate.     In  our  part  of  town  one  sees  the 
sweet   young   plain    quakeresscs,   passim,   more   antiquo.     The 
Maine   law  works  no  visible  change  in  hotels,  but  produces  a 
VOL.  II. — 8* 


178  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FITTn   AYEXUE   CHURCH. 

dreadful   exasperation.     I   think    the   moral    influence    plainly 
deleterious. 

Newport,  August  26,  1852. 

I  do  not  find  my  health  much  benefited,  except  by  the  repose. 
Within  a  fortnight  I  have  had  a  bad  turn  of  disablincr  rheuma- 
tism.  Fishing  is  said  to  be  the  favourite  clerical  sport.  I  am 
an  exception.  The  sailing  is  delightful.  I  can  imagine  the 
delicate  play  of  fly-fishing  to  have  a  charm ;  but  this  dead  pulling 
up  of  sea-fish  is  merely  a  nasty  trade.  Yesterday  I  caught  a 
shark,  about  four  feet  long,  having  pulled  to  the  surface  two 
others,  one  apparently  seven  feet  long.  But  it  is  a  useless  and 
horrid  butchery,  and  I  would  as  soon  stick  a  hos:  or  a  calf.  I 
have  been  twice  out  sailing  with  Dr.  Boardman.  Tlie  New- 
port men  say  he  ventures  beyond  his  sea-knowledge.  Their 
boats  have  a  peculiar  rig,  and  great  alacrity  in  sinking.  [Rev. 
Mr.]  Thayer  is  a  Triton ;  I  have  seen  him  row  across  Bristol 
harbour  in  quite  a  gale,  and  he  often  rows  himself  out  to  vessels, 
duT'ing  pretty  rough  winter  weather,  to  visit  their  crews.  JSI.  has 
a  gay  sloop  of  eight  or  ten  tons,  which  has  luxurious  accommo- 
dations ;  I  have  tried  it  twice.  You  may  judge  of  his  zeal,  wdien 
I  add  he  keeps  a  man,  wdiose  sole  employment  is  to  gather  crabs 
for  bait.  I  have  seen  a  letter  of  Berkeley,  wherein  he  says,  in 
1730,  that  Newport  has  6,000  inhabitants,  and  is  the  chief  place 
for  trade  in  America.  The  house  wdiich  he  built,  (Whitehall,) 
two  or  three  miles  off,  is  much  visited.  I  found  in  it  a  family 
that  goes  to  no  church,  with  a  young  man  dying  of  consumption. 

Revolutionary  memorandums  and  reminiscences  are  sufficient- 
ly frequent  here,  but  it  is  mortifying  to  see  how  little  has  been 
preserved  of  their  earlier  archteology.  The  earliest  grave-mark 
1  have  actually  seen  is  1648,  and  this  is  a  late  stone.  More 
Indian  traditions  and  names  remain,  than  is  usual.  For  example 
many  of  the  names  of  fish  are  plainly  Indian,  as  Squid,  Squeteek, 
Sciqj  or  Scuppang  [porgy],  Choxy,  Menhaden  [mossbunker], 
Totang  [blackfish].  The  more  I  see  of  Narraganset  Bay,  the 
more  I  admire  it.  Among  its  numerous  islands,  there  are  spots 
where  the  views  of  coves,  villages,  and  remote  uplands,  are  equal 
to  any  thing  of  the  fiat  sort. 

I  hope  to  resume  labours  on  the  first  Sunday  of  September. 

New  York,  September  23,  1852. 
I  have  this  day  brought  home  my  little  flock  from  Newport ; 
thanking  God  that  we  have  been  kept  in  life,  and  that  some  of 
the  number  have  derived  such  benefit.^     Our  church  still  lingers. 

^  The  intermission  of  his  preaching  in  New  York  was  only  from  July  18 
to  August  29. 


1851—1857.  179 

Tlie  pews  are  in,  but  not  the  pulpit.  I  am  less  and  less  elated 
with  the  magnificence  of  this  pile.  I  feel,  however,  a  growino- 
desire  to  spend  what  is  left  of  me,  in  plainer,  simpler,  more 
instructive  preaching.  I  am  in  low  spirits  about  the  condition 
of  the  New  England  churches.  The  whole  feeling,  in  their 
assemblies,  is  different  from  that  of  ours — bad  as  we  are.  The 
choirs  carry  matters  clear  away  from  the  congregation,  who  in 
very  numerous  instances  stand  during  singing,  gazing  up  into 
the  singers'  gallery.  The  sermons  are  never  expository;  and 
those  which  are  reputed  the  best  are  extensively  on  general 
topics  of  national  law,  ethics,  and  philanthropy.  A  sort  of  cold 
revival  is  superinduced  in  many  of  them,  which  adds  communi- 
cants, but  does  not  help  the  matter  much.  An  ordinary  lay  in  o- 
open  of  a  large  context,  especially  with  any  stress  laid  "on  pai? 
ticular  pregnant  expressions,  would,  I  am  sure,  be  received 
with  surprise  in  most  places.  They  admit  themselves,  that  the 
new  generation  of  preachers  is  giving  all  its  zeal  to  the  construc- 
tion of  rhetorical  specimens. 

I  am  glad  you  are  willing  to  do  the  service  in  Princeton.' 
Young  men  need  and  desire  the  very  plainest  directions  how  to 
go  about  their  work.  Religious  biographies  will  furnish  many 
suggestions.  Dr.  Waugh's  life  contains  some  grand  things  about 
city  work.  I  have  not,  for  many  years,  seen  a  little  volume  by 
Innes,  a  Baptist  of  Edinburgh  or  Glasgow,  which  struck  me  as 
containing  some  of  the  best  results  of  pastoral  observation  I 
ever  read ;  the  title  escapes  me.  My  father  used  to  go  largely 
into  ministerial  life  and  ways,  marriage,  economy,  choice  of  a 
field,  principles  about  settlement  and  removal,  and  a  great  deal 
concerning  preaching,  that  is  commonly  left  to  Homiletics,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  omitted.  I  mean  all  that  considers 
preaching  in  regard  to  the  private  religion,  &c.,  of  the  minister. 
I^  know  he  also  lectured  fully  and  frankly  on  revivals  ;  on  mis- 
sions ;  on  call  to  foreign  work.  Be  advised  not  to  withhold 
facts  and  deductions  from  your  own  ministry. 

I  am  prepared  to  pronounce  Newport  the  most  delightful 
climate  (to  the  feelings)  in  America.  It  is  singularly  like  what 
I  found  Ireland  to  be,  at  the  same  season. 

New  York,  October  25,  1852. 

Our   Synod   sat   from   Monday   till   Tuesday   night.      Our 

judicatories  here  are  more  churchly  than  religious ;   too  formal 

and  perfunctory.     We  have   no  very  great  men  left  now,  and 

seem  not  to  need  them.'     John  Bell  [of  Tennessee]  seems  to 

^  A  temporary  supply  of  the  chair  of  Pastoral  Theology. 
^  Mr.  Webster  died  October  24. 


180  WHILE   TASTOE   OF   FrFTH    A.yE:5arE   CHUKCII. 

me  one  of  our  soundest  trunks  of  the  old  forest.  I  begin  to 
think  military  skill  is  more  of  a  trade  than  I  once  thought,  and 
involves  less  mental  greatness.  As  to  France,  I  am  heretic 
enough  to  think  it  has  made  a  happy  escape  from  infidelity  and 
socialism.  Walsh's  letters,  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  pro- 
mote this  judgment,  I  dare  say. 

I  have  not  had  a  marriage  for  six  months.  So  they  have  a 
professor  of  INIohammedan  literature  in  Amherst  College.  I  am 
out  of  heart  about  the  delay  of  our  church.  There  is  no  reasonable 
prospect  of  entrance  before  December.  And  if  the  acoustics  should 
prove  bad,  as  my  fears  predict,  from  the  immense  vaulting  and 
needless  recess,  I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  look  for  another  house. 

The  Moral  Science  sells  well,  and  is  much  lauded  by  some 
sound  judges.  It  is  indeed  the  only  work  which  enters  largely 
into  elementary  morals.  W.'s  piety  has  loomed  up  wonderfully 
since  his  demise.  Our  preachers  find  it  a  fruitful  theme.  A 
French  wine-house  has  this  sign : 


Bendezvous 

des 
Boris  Amis. 


MEETIITG. 


Commend  it  to  your  Quaker  neighbours.  A  famous  mourning- 
store  in  Broadwav,  has  for  its  sio;n :  Maison  de  Deuil,  which  im- 
perfect  scholars  may  interpret  variously.  I  have  a  book  in 
hand,  partly  new  and  partly  sermons,  addressed  to  "  the  suffer- 
ing people  of  God,"  ["  Consolation."]  Dr.  Rice  (tet.  70)  looks 
as  firm  as  ever  ;  not  gray  ;  indeed  not  changed.  He  is  a  truly 
affectionate  old  man.  He  is  now  at  Addison's.  Mr.  Talbot 
Olyphant  of  my  church  is  going  to  China  for  the  fourth  time. 
His  brothers  have  also  been  several  times,  and  his  father  sj^ent 
ten  years  in  China.  They  are  all  deeply  interested  in  our  mis- 
sions. They  speak  confidently  of  the  railway  to  San  Francisco, 
as  a  thing  that  must  be,  and  that  speedily.  The  present  route 
to  China  is  shortened  to  sixty  days.  Accessions  at  last  com- 
munion eighteen  on  certificate,  six  on  examination.  Collections  : 
for  Church  Extension  81,100  ;  for  Bible  Society  8990.  My  eye- 
sight is  fiiiling  me  very  rapidly. 

ISTevt  York,  Eye  of  Thanksgiving,  ^ 
November  24,  1852.  ) 

You  make  believe  I  owe  you  a  sheet,  so  here  goes.  On  3'our 
overhasty  departure,  I  perceived  that  you  had  left  a  book,  &c., 
on  my  table.  I  have  not  spoken  of  these  little  lapses  of  mem- 
ory, they  are  to  be  expected.  Do  you  not  find  the  events  of 
your  middle  life  more  easily  remembered  than  the  occurrences 


1851—1857.  181 

of  yesterday  1  A  spectacle-case  is  also  lying  on  my  table— did 
you  leave  that  also  1  So  Napoleon  III.  is  at  length  enthroned. 
Strange  that  both  he  and  Louis  Philippe  should  have  had  such 
adventures  in  America.  Add  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  the  Murats. 
What  a  pity  saints'  days  and  anniversary  festivals  should  be  so 
dangerous  !  Governor's  appointments  lack  the  prestige  and  the 
legends  and  the  traditions  and  the  games  and  the  "flowers  in 
season.  I  saw  in  Europe  some  things  to  show  that  thousands  on 
thousands  may  keep  a  fete  without  the  least  disorder.  The 
modicum  of  religious  association  tends  to  prevent  this.  We 
get  over  boyish  hilarity  too  soon.  Far  up  in  the  Alps  of  Savoy, 
I  came  upon  a  group  of  men,  in  the  highway  in  a  circle,  hand  in 
hand,  singing  Swiss  songs,  with  every  coloured  ribbons  in  their 
broad  hats.  With  us,  they  would  have  been  stupefying  them- 
selves with  adulterate  brandy  at  some  hogsty  of  a  corner  gross-ery. 
In  Paris,  on  Corpus-Christi  Day,  which  they  call  the  Fete  de 
fleurs,  I  reckoned  that  there  were  in  the  Madeleine  not  less 
than  5,000  bouquets,  of  which  the  great  ones  would  have  sold 
at  our  florists  for  $10  a  piece.  I  happened  to  be  at  Cologne  on 
St.  Martin's  ^  day.  The  whole  parish  of  St.  Martin's,  ^jro  more, 
turned  out  in  procession  on  a  great  ^;/acc  around  the  church. 
There  were  hundreds  of  girls  and  women,  and  thousands  of 
men,  all  very  orderly.  The  natural  tendency  to  anniversaries 
breaks  out  among  us  in  such  holidays  as  New  Year's,  Thanks- 
giving, Forefathers'  Day,  Evacuation  Day,  &c.  The  degree  of 
excess  and  abuse  which  occur  on  set  days,  will  be  in  proportion 
to  the  decay  of  religious  feeling  among  a  people ;  but  I  am  by  no 
means  sure  that  these  are  greatly  increased  by  set  days.  Yet  as 
a  good  son  of  Mother  Church,  I  subside  into  the  tenet,  that  all 
such  feasts  are  against  the  second  commandment.  I  wonder  the 
homoeopathists  have  not  taken  Elijah  as  their  patron  saint,  who 
was  the  first  o/AotoTra^^s ;  James  v.  17.  The  nexus  between  one 
credulity  and  another  is  seen  in  the  fact,  that ,  our  prime  ho- 
moeopath, is  prominent  in  the  convention  of  spiritual  rappers 
and  mediums.  I  wish  you  a  happy  family  meeting.  My  text 
is.  Psalm  ii.  11,  last  words. 

New  York,  December  24,  1852. 
I  wish  you  and  yours  a  merry  Christmas.  The  week  has 
been  an  exciting  one,  in  regard  to  our  new  church.  Our  treas- 
urer has  just  been  in,  and  says  (though  he  has  not  had  time  to 
foot  up  the  items)  that  the  debt  is  cancelled— the  sale  of:  pevrs 
equalling  the  entire  cost  of  ground  and  building.  All  the  very 
high-priced  pews  are  taken.  About  ninety-five  remain  unsold. 
It  is  my  wish  that  sales  should  now  stop,  and  that  the  remaining 


182  WHILE   PASTOK   OF   FIFTH   ATEXUE    CHUECH. 

pews  should  be  rented,  at  lo^Y  nates.  Now  that  the  immense 
cost  is  met,  the  future  annual  expenses  on  pews  need  not  be 
greater  than  if  the  house  had  been  built  for  a  small  sum.  The 
assessment  on  pews  is  eight  per  cent.  Since  Monday  the  treas- 
urer has  actually  collected  $85,000.  We  had  a  very  full  house 
on  Sunday  ;  benches  and  chairs  brought  in  till  all  was  crammed. 
Drs.  Potts  and  Plumer  preached.  I  have  been  again  reading 
Erasmus's  Colloquies,  in  the  old  full  edition,  with  great  delight. 
Old  Cass  gains  on  me,  by  his  magnanimity  towards  opponents. 
Old  Benton  in  the  House  will  be  almost  as  racy  as  J.  R.  of 
Roanoke.  Peter  Cooper  is  building  an  Institution  just  below 
the  new  Bible  House,  for  which  he  has  appropriated  $300,000.' 
These  two  buildings  will  beautify  and  improve  a  very  ugly  part 
of  town.  That  neighbourhood  already  has  St.  Mark's,  St.  Anne's, 
the  Baptist  Tabernacle,  Opera  House,  and  Astor  Library  ;  and 
very  near  are  Lafayette  St.  Church  and  St.  Bartholomew's.  A 
Mr*.  Milne  has  been  here  about  two  months,  begging  for  a  church 
at  Cannobie.  I  am  unable  to  see  the  propriety  of  such  a  course. 
Churches  are  probably  thick-set  all  around  the  place,  where  they 
demand  a  Free  Kirk.  In  2  Cor.  xi.  28,  eTrio-t'o-racrts  has  a  force 
not  commonly  observed,  i.  e.  "  the  being  run  down  by  so  many 
people."  In  2  Cor.  iii.  6,  our  version  fails.  The  free  version 
would  be,  (to  keep  up  the  play  of  words,)  "  But  our  ahilitij  is  of 
God,  who  has  given  us  whatever  ability  we  possess  as  ministers." 
I  wish  you  and  yours  facile  digestion  of  the  mince-pies,  and  kindly 
resignation  to  the  drums,  accordeons,  &c.,  of  the  season. 

New  York,  December  27,  1852, 
Thinking  you  might  be  pleased  to  learn  something  authen- 
tically about  our  church,  I  proceed  to  report  progress.  AVe  had 
$13,000  from  the  old  building.  Last  week  we  sold  pews  enough, 
added  to  the  above,  to  clear  us  of  all  debt,  that  is,  to  equal  the 
whole  cost  of  the  ground  and  edifice  ;  wiiich  we  reckon  at  $105,- 
000.  This  left  us  seventy-seven  pews  on  hand,  which  we  deter- 
mined to  rent.  To-day  all  these  have  been  rented,  except  seven 
below,  and  three  in  the  gallery.  The  whole  number,  1  think  I 
told  you,  is  204.  My  concern  is  now  of  a  very  no^'cl  kind ; 
viz.,  where  there  is  to  be  room  for  any  increase.  Indeed,  I  fear 
some  of  our  worthy  slow  people  will  have  found  themselves 
witliout  seats. 

So  poor  old  Mr.  Steel  is  gone.^     He  was  a  good  friend  of  my 
childhood.     Often  have  I  partaken  of  good  buttered  bread  spread 

^  The  cost  reached  to  more  than  twice  this  sum,  and  was  wholly  a  gift. 
^  Mr.  John  Steel,  of  Philadelphia,  a  member  of  the  Third  (Pine  Street) 
Church. 


1851—1857.  18 


Q 


thickly  with  su^ar,  from  the  hand  of  Betty,  in  that  little  dark 
back  parlour  no  longer  to  be  found,  unless  in  England      John 
Avas  perhaps  happiest,  when  he  was  a  linen  draper  bold,  ni  the 
New  Alarket.     He  could  read  the  ''  Aurora,"  and  go  out  to  the 
Republican   meetings,  with   little   risk.      I   remember   Betty  s 
mother,  old  Mrs.   Blair,  and  how  helpless  she  was  with  rheu- 
matism.    Did  I  mention  to  you,  that  the  assessments  on  our 
pews  are  less  than  in  Duane  Street  ?     They  have  to-day  been 
reduced  to  7*  per  cent.     I  wish  I  could  turn  out  about  twenty 
pews  of  rich  folks  and  fill  them  with  poor.     But  this  is  one  ot 
those  dreams  not  to  be  realized.     I  never  was  stronger  m  my 
opinion,  that  all  church-sittings  ought  to  be  free,     let  we  can  t 
reach   this   without    establishments,   endowment,  and   all   that. 
Even  in  the  popish  churches  in  Paris,  I  calculated  that  at  one 
sous  a  chair,  the  common  price,  people  of  regular  attendance 
would  pay  82  a  year,  which  is  just  the  price  of  a  cheap  sittmg  m 
our  church. 

New  York,  December  31,  1852. 
Here  is  my  last  letter  of  the  old  year,  with  my  best  washes 
for  you  and  yours,  for  the  new.  This  has  been  a  period  of  events 
and  mercies  for  me.  Some  of  the  things,  which  I  dare  say 
people  think  tend  to  elate  me,  have  a  quite  contrary  eflect ; 
especially  the  worldly  increase  of  my  cure.  Seldom  if  ever, 
have  I  had  any  private  exercise  more  solemn,  than  m  the  whole 
procuress  of  this  matter.  And  I  never  more  felt  the  necessity  of 
deabnff  plainly  with  my  people.  My  congregation  is  fearfully 
lartre  Every  pew^  wdiich  was  not  sold,  is  rented,  except  about 
twS  and  a  half.  One  of  mv  responsibilities  is  that  of  begging 
and  dispensing  large  alms.  Yesterday  I  had  to  raise  some 
money  for  poor  members  of  a  German  congregation.  1  went 
nowhere  for  this  purpose,  but  mentioned  it  in  calls,  and  received 
$68.  On  the  first  Sunday  we  collect  for  our  Foreign  Missions, 
and  I  hope  we  shall  do  better  than  ever.'  ^      -,        • 

The  question  of  riding  in  our  street  cars  on  Sunday,  is  agi- 
tatino-  our  community.  I  have  not  been  able  to  decide  it.  The 
poor^'go  in  cars  ;  the  rich  in  coaches.  The  number  of  horses  and 
men  employed  is  less  than  if  there  were  no  cars.  It  is  a  query 
whether  as  many  cars  as  these  would  not  be  demanded  by  those 
(amono-  half  a  million)  who  have  lawful  occasion  to  journey.  Jt 
so,  the'question  of  duty  would  be  reduced  to  one  of  individual 
vocation  to  this  amount  of  locomotion.  The  whole  matter  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath  is  a  little  perplexed  in  my  mmd.     1.  All  tliat 

^  The  collection  proved  to  be  more  than  $3,800.     In  the  next  month,  for 
Domestic  Missions,  $3, 7 TO. 


18-i  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHTKCH. 

our  Lord  says  on  it,  is  prima  facie  on  the  side  of  relaxation. 
2.  The  apostles,  who  enforce,  and  as  it  were  re-enact  every  other 
command  of  the  ten,  never  advert  to  this.  3.  Even  to  Gentile 
converts,  they  lay  no  stress  on  this,  which  might  be  expected  to 
come  first,  among  externals.  4.  According  to  the  letter,  Paul 
teaches  the  Colossians  (ii.  IG)  not  to  be  scrupulous  about  Sab- 
baths. I  am  not  therefore  surprised,  that  Calvin  had  doubts  on 
this  subject.  The  very  strict  views  of  the  Sabbath  have  pre- 
vailed in  no  part  of  Christendom  unconnected  with  the  British 
Isles.  I  must  wait  for  more  light.  I  admit  the  fact,  that  spiritual 
religion  has  most  flourished  where  the  strict  opinions  have  pre- 
vailed. My  good  flither  used  to  say  :  "  Be  very  strict  yourself; 
be  very  lenient  in  judging  your  neighbour."  I  have  always 
taken  milk,  without  scruple  ;  which  is  an  offence  to  hundreds  of 
good  people  among  us.  Some  began  to  have  qualms  about 
Sunday  gas ;  but  on  inquiry  they  found  that  the  labour  which 
produced  it  fell  on  Thursday  or  Friday.  As  I  always  give  my 
people  a  motto  for  the  year,  and  preach  on  it,  I  have  chosen  "  My 
Grace  is  sufficient  for  thee." 

Cakes  are  imported  by  our  confectioners  from  Paris.  Our 
restaurateurs  advertise  daily  beef,  mutton,  partridges,  and  hares, 
from  England. 

Xew  York,  March  9,  1853. 

With  more  than  two  hundred  pew-holders,  I  find  my  circuit 
wide  enough.  In  regard  to  visiting,  I  am  forced  to  seek  how  to 
please  God  and  not  man.  Cases  of  illness,  &c.,  break  in  very 
much  on  what  I  have  heard  called  a  "  routine  of  rounds."  The 
pleasure  of  having  our  big  boys  at  home  must  soon  end ;  a  fore- 
warning of  partings  yet  more  serious.  O  that  grace  might 
"  apprehend "  them  !  "^Biekersteth's  life  [by  Birks]  is  a  plain 
book,  but  O  how  full  of  healthy,  ardent  piety  !  I  think  him  one 
of  the  loveliest  ministerial  models. 

Mr.  Beers's  death  is  a  loss  indeed.'  He  was  every  thing  I 
could  ask,  as  to  prompt  and  willing  help.  Mr.  Auchincloss  [an- 
other Elder]  is  sinking  apace.  I  shall  try  for  a  considerable 
enlargement  of  the  session,  but  fear  I  shall  not  be  successful. 

Chalmers's  "Life"  [by  Hanna]  contains  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  trifling  matter.  The  plan  seems  to  have  been  to 
publish  all  that  c'ould  be  raked  and  scraped.  It  is,  however,  a 
wonderful  monument  to  his  frankness  of  nature.  Amos  Law- 
rence, though  called  a  Unitarian,  delighted  in  such  books  as 
McCheyne,  Haldane's  Life,  &c.,  and  bought  them  largely  for  dis- 

^  Mr.  Beers,  one  of  his  elders  and  most  esteemed  friends,  died  in  Feb- 
ruary. 


1851—1857.  185 

tribiition.     There  is  a  somewhat  singular  case  of  activity  in  my 
congregation.     A  young  man,  who  took  first  honour  at  Prince- 
ton, and  then  studied  hiw,  devotes  his  whole  time  to  the  distri- 
bution of  the  Bible.     He  has  boarded  every  foreign  vessel  in 
this  port,  for  four  or  five  years.     He  argues,  exhorts,  battles, 
and  generally  succeeds.     Our  congregations  are  full  to  a  degree 
which  oppresses  me.     I  believe  only  half  a  pew  is  unlet.     Our 
collection  for  Education  Board,  on  Sunday,  was  $3,510.     Our 
weekly  lecture  is  crow^led.     With  much  external  attention  there 
is  little  proportionable  coming  out  by  profession.     Next  Sunday 
we  shall  ^admit  about  twenty  on  certificate,  and  six  on  examina- 
tion.    Of  the  whole  twenty-six,  about  twenty  are  made  up  of 
husband  and  wife.     I  am  very  soberly  apprehensive  of  failing 
under  my  burden,  and  that  before  long.     I  generally  lose  my 
rest  ^  on  Sunday  night,  and  on  the  last  had  the  addition  of  a 
vomiting.     In  no  winter  have  I  had  more  of  nervous  tremor. 
But  I  try  to  disregard  these  symptoms,  as  I  see  no  way  out  of 
my  present   duties.     The   translation  of  a  French  book  "the 
Preacher  and  the  King,"  which  is  really  a  treatise  on  homi- 
letics,  is  a  capital  book.     I  have  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  a  book 
about  every  thing,  (4  vols.,)  but  of  which  the  real  intent  is  to 
give  an  exact  portraiture  of  Christianity  about  A.  T>.  225,  as  to 
the  creed,  liturgy,  and   manners ;    and  for  this  portraiture  the 
material  afforded  by  the  chevalier  is  very  rich.     It  includes  a 
complete   series  of  the  very  earliest  liturgies,  in  the  original. 
Antipuseyite,  anticalvinist,  antipedobaptist,  antirationalist,"tran- 
scendental,  mystical,  poetical,  erudite,  interesting,  bold,  with  occa- 
sionally pickings  of  a  very  suggestive  kind.     His  flicts  and  quota- 
tions are  a^  great  basis  for  thought.     His  central  point  is  the 
Eucharist,  in  the  view  expressed  by  that  word.     He  proves  very 
clearly  that  the  ancient  church  made  this  the  great  thing,  and  that  all 
the  liturgies  grew  out  of  a  simple  communion  service.    It  is  to  him 
the  Christian  sacrifice,  not  in  the  popish  sense,  but  as  expressing 
in  common  what  he  regards  as  the  great  central  feeling  of  religioi?, 
viz.,  the  unselfish  ofl?ering-up  of  the  whole  man,  thankfully  to 
God,  as  Christ  once  offered  up  himself.     He  thinks  this  \lea 
pretty  much  lost  in  the  modern  church.     He  is  as  little  of  a 
Trinitarian  as  Neander  Schleiermacher,  or  Bushnell. 

Xew  York,  April  8,  1853. 
;Mr.  C,  a  Scot,  gives  striking  accounts  of  the  surplus  of  labour 
in^  Scotland.  There  are  about  400  probationers,  and  about 
thirty  annual  vacancies.  Twenty  missionaries  are  wanted  fin- 
Australia,  and  they  can  drum  up  only  six.  He  is  fimiiliar  with 
labour  among  the  poor  in  Edinburgh.     Spoke  of  their  district 


186  WHILE   PASTOR    OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHUECH. 

methods.  Two  or  three  ladies  have  about  twenty  houses  allotted 
to  them,  for  visits,  &c.  But  these  small  cantons  are  sometimes 
visited  by  three  diffel^ent  sets,  one  Free  Church,  one  Establish- 
ment, &c.  He  is  en  route  for  Cincinnati,  but  I  almost  wished  to 
detain  him  here.  There  is  such  a  spirit  of  work  about  these 
real  working  Scotchmen.  Mr.  C.  has  lately  traversed  those 
parts  of  Ireland  where  the  conversions  from  Popery  have 
taken  place,  and  confirms  the  most  favourable  accounts.  Thou- 
sands have  become  intelligent  Protestants.  The  beginning  has 
always  been  by  schools.  He  represents  the  Bible  knowledge 
obtained  in  these  as  wonderful.  There  are  about  forty  Presby- 
terian schools.  Dr.  Duff  has  taken  this  matter  in  hand  with  great 
zeal.  In  our  city-work,  the  great  lack  is  not  of  money,  but  of 
men.  I  am  astonished  when  I  consider  the  supineness  of  our 
young  ministers.  There  are  half  a  dozen  licentiates  hanging 
about  here,  waiting  for  vacancies,  who  might  instantly  have 
their  hands  full  of  Avork.  Any  man  of  the  least  energy  could, 
in  a  school-room  or  loft,  soon  gather  a  houseful  of  hearers.  I 
even  think  our  young  laymen  are  not  backward  in  their  part. 
But  we  want  a  revival  of  zeal  among  preachers.  I  am  increasing 
my  eldership,  and  minded  to  increase  it  more :  Joseph  Hyde, 
James  M.  Halsted,  Thomas  U.  Smith,  and  Jeremiah  J.  Green- 
ough.'  It  does  not  often  happen  to  me  to  discover  four  new 
cases  of  religious  inquiry  in  two  days  ;  but  such  is  the  event  of 
this  week. 

The  only  error  I  see  in  the  Brick  Church  movement  is,  that 
they  did  not  move  fifteen  years  ago,  when  they  might  have  made 
a  better  bargain.  The  supporters  of  the  church  have  long  been 
up  town.  Free  churches  must  be  established  for  the  class 
remaining  bdow.  The  position  of  that  church  has  long  been 
intolerable,  from  the  noise  of  cars  and  newspaper  steam-presses, 
next  door.  The  year  has  added  to  our  church  109,  of  whom 
only  twenty  on  examination.  We  are  just  about  opening  a 
mission  Sunday  School,  in  20th  Street  near  7th  Avenue.  We 
have  plenty  of  teachers,  and  a  room  capacious  of  250,  in  a  neigh- 
bourhood filled  with  poor ;  the  streets  toward  the  North  Piiver 
beiuf?  thronged.  I  have  completed  that  part  of  the  memoir  [of 
his  lather]  which  precedes  Princeton,  and  in  that  whole  period 
have  not  one  letter.  AVhen  I  think  of  the  new  generation  in 
Princeton,  I  feel  quite  old— Dod,  Green,  Cattells,  Hope,  Dufiield. 
C.'s  case  reminds  me  of  a  frequent  saying  of  my  father,  that  he 
never  knew  a  poor  man  go  crazy  for  fear  of  starvation. 

For  some  months  1  have  been  studying  Galatians,  with  a 

^  They  ^vere  ordained  April  10,  1853. 


1851—1857.  187 

feeling  of  increased  understanding.  Poor  Byers's  wife  embarked 
at  Shanghae  the  day  after  lying-in,  and  so  came  five  months 
with  a  newborn  child,  and  a  dying  husband.  A  week  ago  wo 
attended  his  funeral,  in  the  same  church  where  he  was  ordained 
a  year  since.  Coulter,  our-  missionary  printer,  is  just  reported 
dead  at  Ning  Po.  The  Hippodrome  is  rising  near  us,  like 
magic ;  they  say  to  contain  8,000.  The  Crystal  Palace  is  not 
merely  less  than  the  original,  but  is  ill  placed,  and  diminished 
to  the  eye,  by  the  contiguity ,  of  the  great  massive  Reservoir. 
One  of  the  prettiest  little  electrical  experiments  I  know,  has 
been  repeatedly  performed  in  my  parlour  by  James  and  his  com- 
rades. If  new  to  you,  it  will  be  surprising.  It  is  the  lighting 
of  gas  by  the  finger.  One  person,  in  old  slippers  or  the  like, 
shuffles  about  on  a  thick  rug  for  five  minutes,  until  the  body 
collects  a  sufficiency  of  the  electric  fluid.  He  then  suddenly 
applies  his  finger  to  the  vent,  (held  open  a  moment  before,  by 
another  person,)  and  the  flame  instantly  breaks  forth.  I  can  at 
any  time  produce  a  spark,  but  have  not  succeeded  in  kindling 
the  gas.  I  am  not  a  believer  in  Gavazzi.  I  heard  him  in 
Glasgow,  and  thought  him  eloquent ;  but  there  was  no  religious 
ingredient,  and  little  but  a  Mazzini-like  damnation  of  the  pope. 
Dr.  De  Witt  lately  preached  a  sermon  for  me,  extempore,  more 
like  my  father's  best,  than  I  have  heard. 

Having  exchanged  with  Krebs  on  Sunday,  I  walked  home 
through  Avenue  A.  My  way  lay  for  above  a  mile  through  the 
German  quarter — all  the  signs  in  German — children  talking 
German.  It  was  not  only  not  like  Sunday,  but  was  like  a  4th 
of  July,  or  exactly  like  a  Sunday  in  Cologne  or  Heidelberg. 
Every  fourth  house  was  a  drinking-place.  Some  of  these  were 
large,  with  numerous  tables,  and  filled  with  as  many  women  as 
men.  There  are  half  a  dozen  Romish  chapels  within  a  few 
hundred  yards  of  Tompkins  Square ;  one  of  these,  (Holy  Re- 
deemer,) a  tawdry  thing,  is  said  to  be  larger  and  higher  than 
Trinity  church.  I  think  there  is  more  stir  among  our  good 
people  than  I  ever  knew,  about  the  condition  of  the  poor,  ragged 
boys,  &c.  I  cannot  get  any  other  churches  to  agree  with  me  in 
a  favourite  scheme,  to  have  a  great  and  inviting  building  erected, 
far  down  town,  with  a  striking  preacher,  seats  free,  and  no  proxi- 
mate regard  to  what  is  called  a  church-organization.  Our  folks 
are  nearly  ripe  for  a  mission  church  ;  but  I  do  not  mean  it  shall 
be  down  town.  The  churches  left  in  that  quarter  are  nearly 
empty,  as  for  example  the  spacious  North  Dutch.  Soon  every 
thing  l3elow  will  be  warehouses,  &c.  The  teeming  population 
of  the  upper  wards  are  falling  a  prey  to  the  Catholics.  O  that 
our  sect-divisions  did  not  make  territorial  operation  impracti- 


188  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHUECH. 

cable  !  How  mucli  more  we  could  do,  if  we  could  only  mark  oif 
nine  squares,  as  our  own  field — for  schools,  church,  charity, 
care  of  i30or,  &c.  I  sometimes  scruple  Avhether  a  uniformity, 
like  Sweden,  properly  worked,  would  not  overbalance  the 
advantages  of  our  ultra  free  inquiry  and  individual  judgment. 

New  York,  April  28,  1853. 
Yours  is  "  to  hand,"  a  beautiful  Americanism,  which  electrifies 
one  at  every  telegraph.  Another  is,  Howel's  "  Frint ;  "  which 
I  observe  on  the  imprint  of  a  sermon.  Addison  will  sail  in  the 
"  Asia,"  18th  prox.  We  spent  hours  in  Presybtery,  upon  city 
destitution  and  church  extension.  I  came  away  with  a  heavy 
heart,  persuaded  that  as  a  Presbytery  we  shall  do  nothing. 
Whatever  is  effected  must  be  done  congregationally.  Just  think 
— our  great  and  wealthy  Presbytery  has  not  one  preaching- 
station  for  the  poor  and  wicked.  As  it  is,  the  only  work  that  is 
doing,  is  by  the  irresponsible  City  Tract  Society,  under  A.  E. 
Wetmore.  The  plea  of  some  is,  that  the  only  mode  is  to  set  off 
colonies  from  large  churches.  But  how  can  we  get  our  members 
to  leave  us  ?  And  the  worst  necessities  are  just  where  self- 
supporting  churches  can  never  exist.  I  would  rejoice  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  if  the  twenty  best  fomilies  in  my  charge 
would  leave  me  to  found  a  new  church.  But  this  would  by  no 
means  reach  the  layer  of  population  that  I  have  in  view.  We 
opened  a  mission-school  last  Sunday ;  five  in  the  morning, 
twenty-two  in  the  afternoon.  Gavazzi  continues  to  draw  enor- 
mous houses.  Ilis  histrionic  powers  are  unequalled.  The  pur- 
lieus of  the  Palace  are  growing  up  into  a  young  San  Prancisco, 
of  tawdry  shells,  saloons,  grog  and  oyster  holes,  mountebank 
stalls,  &c.  ;  very  unlike  the  boundless  lawns  and  groves  of  Hyde 
Park,  which  begirt  the  English  one.  The  building  itself  is  be- 
ginning to  look  well.  Dr.  Muhlenberg's  church,  which  is  a  free- 
seat  one,  has  parsonage  on  one  side  and  school  on  the  other,  and 
employs  a  doctor  and  an  apothecary,  to  serve  all  attendants 
gratis.  I  suppose  none  but  the  poor  apply.  We  go  to  Sharon 
springs  on  Wednesday.^ 

Sharon  Springs,  N.  Y.,  June  24,  1853. 

Ink-privileges  are  scanty  here,  though  brimstone  and  water 

abound.'     The  season  has  not  fairly  begun.     There  are  about  a 

hundred  here  in  all.     We  are  the  only  visiters  at  a  fiirm-house 

about  a  mile  from  the  springs  :  real  country ;   a  sweet,  quiet, 

^  By  medical  advice  for  the  benefit  of  one  of  his  children. 
-  The  letter  was  written  in  pencil. 


1851—1857.  189 

pastoral  farm  of  a  hundred  and  forty  acres.  The  fare  is  abundant 
and  wholesome,  and  the  sights  and  sounds  very  composing  after 
being  "  in  populous  city  pent."  I  sit  out  of  doors  all  hours  that 
the  heat  will  permit.  Yesterday  the  boys  caught  a  ground-squir- 
rel, here  called  by  its  Indian  name,  chipmunk.  lunumerablo 
birds  are  in  the  trees  ;  the  young  just  taking  wing.  Ten  quarts 
of  strawberries  at  the  last  picking.  We  churned  twice  yester- 
day. Mrs.  Swift  gets  about  fourteen  pails  of  milk  daily.  To 
vary  the  routine,  the  bees  swarmed  just  now,  and  you  will  be 
pleased  to  learn  that  the  outgoing  hive  was  saved. 

The  water  is  of  two  kinds,  in  one  of  which  magnesia  prevails. 
It  is  surprisingly  crystalline,  and  deliciously  cool,  but  the  taste 
is  that  of  hard-boiled  eggs  raised  to  the  nth  power.  It  does  not 
tell  its  story  w^ith  the  promptness  of  the  Saratoga,  but  is  very 
potent  on  the  system,  and  in  rheumatic  cases  works  wonders. 
There  is  a  settlement  of  Canadian  Indians  (Abenaqui)  here,  who 
make  the  most  beautiful  and  various  basket-work  I  ever  saw. 
There  is  no  church  here.  About  a  mile  off  there  is  a  building 
which  is  occupied  in  turn  by  Lutherans  and  Methodists  every 
Sunday  morning,  and  by  Universalists  in  the  afternoon.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  beautiful  country.  The  surface 
rolls  perpetually  :  there  are  some  high  hills ;  no  end  to  streams, 
often  running  through  dark  ravines,  tumbling  water-falls,  and 
mountain  springs.  There  is  an  appearance  of  great  fertility. 
The  county  is  Scoharie,  and  is  about  seven  miles  from  Cherry 
Valley.  I  feel  refreshed  and  rested  by  being  here,  but  not  well. 
I  shall  try  to  get  away  on  the  28th.  I  have  not  found  the  least 
diminution  of  heat,  though  the  sweetness  of  June  air  in  the  coun- 
try is  very  refreshing.  I  had  no  idea  of  the  thousands  of 
emigrants  filling  the  trains  westward,  until  my  late  trips.  Thir- 
teen hundred  left  Albany  in  one  day.  Two  of  them  died  in  the 
cars  from  excessive  heat.  The  tract  distributors  are  active 
amono:  them.  The  chief  house  here  is  the  Pavilion,  on  an 
eminence  which  commands  a  truly  mountain  view.  The  farm 
on  which  we  are  is  in  the  lap  or  valley  just  below  it,  at  the  foot 
of  a  green,  smooth,  rounded  descent. 

Newport,  Jidy  26,  1853. 

I  rr-eeived  with  much  emotion  your  intelligence  of  the  death 
of  your  brother  Charles.  Every  thing  is  gained  when  the  soul 
is  safe  ;  and  I  am  not  surprised  to  hear  good  tidings  in  this  re- 
spect, knowing  how  lively  an  interest  he  always  took  in  the 
means  of  grace.  Yet  it  seems  strange  to  think  of  him  as  carried 
away  by  disease.  He  was  always  a  favourite  of  mine,  fi-om  very 
childhood,  for  his  cheerfulness,  frankness,  and  cordiality.     ISIay 


190  WniLE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE    CHrECH. 

Heaven  protect  and  "bless  his  iDereaved  little  family!  How 
rapidly  the  associations  of  our  youth  are  growing  dim  !  Perhaps 
the  most  wonderful  thing  of  all  is,  that  we  ourselves  survive ; 
unless  it  be  this,  that  we  still  cling  so  closely  to  the  earth. 

I  received  your  previous  letter  while  I  was  yet  in  New  York ; 
where  I  passed  a  dull  and  solitary  time,  my  family  being  in 
Sharou.  I  then  resorted  thither,  and  spent  some  days  with  them. 
It  is  a  delightful  resort.  The  scenery  is  romantic,  and  the  air 
dry  and  elastic.  We  had  no  feeling  of  oppressive  heat,  but  a 
sort  of  mountain  freshness.  The  waters  seem  very  efficacious 
in  a  large  class  of  diseases.  We  were  on  a  large  fiirm,  less 
than  a  mile  from  the  spring,  with  an  unbounded  range  for  the 
children.  I  was  almost  sorry  to  come  away,  though  the  air  of 
Newport  is,  after  another  fashion,  very  refreshing.  We  came  in 
two  days,  by  way  of  Albany,  Springfield,  Worcester,  and  Provi- 
dence, a  very  pleasing  route.  Springfield  is  a  charming  town, 
and  the  trip  from  Worcester  to  Providence  is  through  a  very  novel 
series  of  grazing  valleys,  meandering  streams,  and  beautiful  fac- 
tory-villages. On  the  Sunday  of  our  arrival  Henry  came  in 
from  hunting  and  fishing  in  Sullivan  County,  up  the  Delaware. 
He  took  lots  of  trout,  and  slept  two  nights  out  of  doors.  I  shall 
give  him  as  much  boating  and  sea-fishing  as  his  vacation  allows. 
I  was  very  poorly,  with  choleroid  affections,  in  New  York,  but 
have  rallied.  My  church  is  kept  open.  When  last  heard  of, 
Addison  was  stepping  from  Dover  to  Calais.  In  the  face  of 
much  foregoing  prejudice,  he  thinks  Candlish  immeasurably 
above  any  preacher  he  ever  heard.  He  had  heard  ]\IcNeile, 
Hamilton,  Cumming,  Melvill,  and  Blornfield. 

New  York,  Sejytember  17,  1853. 
I  am  under  a  very  strong  impression  that  I  answered  your 
penult  letter  from  Newport.  Though  I  returned  to  my  own 
pulpit  on  the  1st  of  this  month,  I  did  not  bring  back  my  famil- 
iars till  to-day.  Willy,  who  had  been  very  ill,  has  been  merci- 
fully recovered.  James  has  gained  a  good  deal  of  strength,  by 
maritime  pursuits,  winding  up  by  filling  into  Narraganset  Bay 
on  Wednesday.  We  spent  the  night  in  a  small  and  over-crowd- 
ed boat,  and  got  here  about  ten.     Both  going  and  coming  I  had 

agreeable  chat  with  Dr.,  once  Captain  V of  U.  S.  A.,  and 

Grace  Church,  Brooklyn.  He  is  a  great  fisherman.  He  and  a 
party  this  summer  killed  fifty  sharks  in  thirty-six  hours ;  one 

which  Dr.  V •  hooked  measured  eleven  feet.     I  spent  some 

days  on  Cape  Cod,  among  a  primitive  and  homogeneous  people,  as 
much  like  the  old  Puritans,  I  suppose,  as  any  living.  The  chief 
places  were  Sandwich,  Yarmouth,  South  Yarmouth,  Barnstable, 


1851— 1857.  191 

South   Dennis,   North   Dennis,  and   Harwich.      There  are  no 
negroes,  no  Irishmen,  and  no  foreigners.     In  the  houses  I  visited 
I  saw  nothing  like  domestic  servants ;  yet  surprising  comfort 
great  improvement  of  mind,  and  apparent  religion.     The  men 
are  all  seafarers,  and  generally  captains.     Our  congregation  were 
in  a  very  Mr  way  of  raising  $18,000,  to  buy  an  old  church  in 
which  we  already  have  a  mission-school ;  when  the  matter  was 
quashed  by  a  reclamation  of  another  people  buildino;  in  that 
quarter,  who  thought  that  our  setting  up  a  chapel  Avould  aflect 
them.     So  we  are  looking  round  for  a  new  scheme.     Few  of  my 
flock  have  returned.     Church  pretty  full  all  summer,  but  mainly 
from  other  congregations.     I  have  gained  nothing  dunim  the  sum- 
mer. 

'New  York,  Mvemher  11,  1853. 
We  are  in  an  odd  state  as  to  music.  Lowell  Mason  is  our 
leader;  but  since  his  return  from  Europe  he  is  so  bent  on 
severe  plain  tunes,  and  congregational  singing,  that  while  I  am 
tickled  amazmgly,  the  people  are  disappointed.  His  success  in 
making  the  people  sing  has  been  marvellous.  I  enter  no  house 
where  so  many  join.  But  I  fear  we  cannot  hold  it  against  such 
odds  We  are  planning  to  build  or  buy  a  house  for  our  Mis- 
sion Sunday  School. 

My  father's  eldest  sister,  Mrs.  Graham,  is  dead.  She  was  a 
woman  of  strong  mind  and  solid  piety,  with  whom  mv  flither 
kept  up  a  correspondence  for  sixty  years.  The  interruptions  of 
a  city  pastor  are  sometimes  the  occasions  of  his  chief  usefulness 
1  have  had  three  to-day,  all  beyond  my  church  pale.  I  preached 
[November  6]  at  overture  of  Dr.  Parker's  lecture-room.  A 
..  i'f  ^•T).'^'''''!'  ^^'"''^^  ^'^  Rochester,  known  from  the  patron  as 
Ml^  Ward's  Church,"  [St.  Peter's,]  has  the  commandments  and 
creed,  &c.,  on  tablets,  and  is  to  have  responses,  &c.     The  article 

^  In  a  note  to  the  editor  of  this  correspondence  Mr.  Mason  says  •  "  Durlno- 
the  four  years  or  more  that  I  liad  the  privilege  of  leading  the  sino-in"-  exer""- 
cises  in  Dr.  Alexander's  church,  he  often  spoke  to  me  on  the  sublecl     In- 
deed I  did  not  often  meet  him  Avhen  this  was  not  a  leading  topic  of  remark- 
He  always  spoke  with  great  decision,  and  once  certainly  he  told  me   when 
It  was  suggested  that  there  might  be  danger  of  a  return  to  choir-sin o-i„„. 
that  he  would  not  remain  pastor  of  a  church  where  the  singino-  was  exclS- 
sijely  m  the  hands  of  a  choir.     He  often  spoke  to  me  after  thS  public  ser- 
vice  ot  the  gratification  he  experienced  from  the  psalmody,  and  I  well  re- 
member on  one  occasion  he  told  me  he  had  never  before  enjoyed  so  much 
the  exercise  of  song  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.     He  spoke  to  me  also  of  the 
growing  importance  of  the  singing  service  in  his  own  estimation.     He  used 
to  attend  our  little  preparatory  meetings,  often  making  remarks,  suggesting 
topics,  &c.,  and  always  closing  with  prayer."  >      fe=         o 


192  WHILE   TASTOE   OF   riTTII   AYENrE   CHUECH. 

ill  the  October  Edinburgh,  on  Church  Parties,  gives  the  most 
readable  account  I  have  ever  seen  of  the  peculiarities  and  relative 
force  of  the  great  divisions  of  Anglicans,  with  many  important 
facts  and  explanations  entirely  new  to  me.  The  "  Christian  Ee- 
membrancer  "  (Puseyite)  notices  Fanny  Fern's  book,  and  says, 
"  What  a  language  in  America,  where  a  young  lady  can  call 
trousers  '  pants  ! '  "  I  observed  the  word  pantaloons  was  not 
used  by  London  tailors,  [always  trousers.] 

What  a  change  the  sculptures  of  the  Exhibition  [Crystal 
Palace  in  New  York]  will  make  in  our  popular  estimate  of 
nudities.  Shop-windows  and  parlours  show  the  revolution. 
Paris  can  scarcely  equal  some  of  our  Broadway  solicitations. 
Such  an  autumn  as  we  have  had  I  suppose  no  one  remembers. 
People  love  to  predict  a  hard  winter.  Coal  is  high,  and  the 
"  stringency "  will  throw  thousands  of  operatives  out  of  work. 
There  is  but  one  point  in  which  I  ever  feel  drawn  toward  the 
millenarians  ;  their  belief,  namely,  that  Christ  will  visit  and  re- 
new his  church  ex  abriq^to,  by  a  sudden  burst.  This  often  seems 
likely  to  me.  Our  whole  system  of  modern  means  works  slowly, 
and  seems  often  to  work  backward.  And  yet,  as  to  the  influence 
on  the  world  at  large,  it  has  not  been  ever  greater,  in  my 
opinion,  since  the  Reformation,  than  at  this  moment.  I  do  not 
see  that  Christianity  was  ever  more  enlarging  itself  By-the-bye, 
I  think  the  talk  about  supporting  the  ministry  is  good  and  indis- 
pensable ;  I  can  say  so  as  suffering  no  personal  need.  Nothing 
seems  more  prominent  or  more  plain  to  me  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  I  often  wonder,  indeed,  that  it  is  alluded  to  so  much,  as  it 
is  plain  that  primitive  Christians  did  not  neglect  that  duty.  I 
do  not,  however,  agree  with  those  who  ascribe  the  fewness  of 
candidates  to  this.  Having  lived  much  among  such,  I  never 
knew  a  youth  who  seemed  to  me  to  be  held  back  by  this  reason ; 
and  he  who  should  be  so  had  better  stay  out. 

I  find  this  great  change  in  my  pastoral  experience :  I  am 
more  concerned  about  the  quaViiy  of  religion  in  my  flock,  than 
when  I  was  young.  Sometimes  I  am  almost  as  glad  to  observe 
a  ripening,  as  once  to  observe  a  conversion.  A  few  instances, 
very  striking,  have  come  under  my  knowledge.  Doubtless  from 
some  grand  defect  in  my  preaching  its  influence  has  been  most 
on  professors ;  this  beyond  any  hopes  of  mine.  Awakenings 
are  rare  with  me.  My  father  long  ago  pointed  out  this  evil  in 
my  sermons,  and  it  has  caused  me  many  a  pang.  The  invitatory 
part,  I  am  always  free  to  hold  forth  ;  but  in  every  instance  when 
I  have  tried  the  alarming  and  more  pungent,  I  have  been  like 
David  in  Saul's  harness.  I  am  often  depressed  beyond  expres- 
sion at  the  apparent  waste  of  my  exertions.     Private  addresses 


1851—1857.  193 

and  expository  lectures  have  clone  most  of  the  little  good  that 
appears.     Sad,  sad,  to  think  how  nearly  the  glass  is  run  out ! 

New  York,  December  4,  1853. 
The  modern  German  rule,  of  sticking  firmly  to  grammar- 
laws,  helps  some  passages.  E.g.  Acts  xix.  3:  'i7Koi;Va/xei/ can 
mean  only,  "We  did  not.  hear  of  any  Holy  Ghost;"  i.  e.  we 
were  not  baptized  with  the  formula,  including  that  name  :  v.  5, 
"  When  they  heard  this,  they  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus ; "  so  their  previous  baptism  had  not  been  in  his 

name  either.     Dr.  C is  here,  as  accompanying  a  minister 

from  AVisconsin,  who  solicits  for  a  college.  This  fungus  of  col- 
lege-building on  our  Education  Board  is  like  to  eat  out  all  the 
vitals  thereof.  I  have  had  a  tea-visit  from  Rev.  E.  Steel  and  Dr. 
Gray.  Steel  has  been  thirty-four  years  at  Abingdon.  Addison 
preached  a  grand  sermon  for  me  yesterday  ;  he  is  very  unequal. 
I  have  arrived  at  the  last  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  in  lecturing  on 
the  Life  of  Christ.  It  has  been  by  fiir  the  most  delightful  homi- 
letical  exercise  I  ever  tried.  Llolmes  is  delighting  audiences 
with  his  brilliant  and  witty  lectures.  Our  City  Tract  Society 
has  twenty-six  missionaries  and  eleven  hundred  distributors. 

New  York,  January  4,  1854. 
I  wish  you  and  yours  a  happy  New  Year.  The  last  has  been 
to  us  a  year  of  mercies.  As  years  roll  on,  the  most  despondent 
thought  I  have  is  a  fear  of  never  being  much  better  in  this  world ; 
I  am  glad  there  is  another.  I  used  to  make  resolutions  at  the 
new  year ;  but  now  I  am  disheartened.  The  same  habits,  the 
same  tendencies,  the  same  selfishness,  the  same  "  old  man,"  and 
warring  o-ap^.  My  people  lately  agitated  the  question  of  raising 
my  salary  to  $5,000.  When  they  met,  a  letter  of  mine  was 
read,  earnestly  requesting  that  it  might  not  be  done.  They 
nevertheless  voted  it  unanimously,  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  raise 
the  pew-tax.  After  deliberating  a  few  days,  and  in  opposition 
to  every  adviser,  I  wrote  positively  declining.  To  this,  after  a 
week,  I  have  no  reply. ^  Our  church-collection  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions on  Sunday  was  $5,189  63.  Add  $1,000  for  China  Mission 
about  a  month  ago.  Our  Mission-school  goes  on  well ;  we  have 
more  than  two  hundred  of  the  ragged  sort.  I  expect  to  go  to 
press  this  week.  No  one  knows  the  anxiety  I  have  had  in  pre- 
paring this  work,  chiefly  from  the  absence  of  diaries  and  letters 
for  the  last  forty  years.     I  think  I  have  been  benefited,  however, 

^  Upon  his  declining  the  additional  salary,  the  congregation  made  an 
equivalent  provision,  which  enured  to  his  family  at  his  decease. 

VOL.  II. — 9 


19i  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AYENUE   CHrKCH. 

by  conversing  with  so  many  of  my  father's  best  thoughts.  I 
have  been  reading  a  Unitarian  book,  intituled  "  Eegeneration," 
by  Sears.  It  is  wonderful  how  he  uses  all  our  evangelical  lan- 
guage, and  tries  to  gain  all  the  spirit  and  warmth  of  gospel 
grace.  Hollow  as  it  is,  I  consider  it  sincere,  and  in  the  light  of 
a  confession  of  the  nakedness  of  their  own  system.  Osgood, 
of  this  city,  preaches  in  the  same  strain ;  a  sort  of  revulsion 
from  Parker  and  young  Channing.  Poor  old  ISIr.  Comfort  [of 
Kingston,  N.  J.]  had  an  easy  end  ;  the  clock  quietly  ran  down. 
Of  what  are  called  anecdotes,  my  memoir  will  be  singularly 
destitute;  also  of  smart  sayings.  I  wish  I  had  even  two  or 
three.  Gavazzi  still  holds  forth.  Achilli  is  claimed  by  Bush  as 
a  New-churchman.     My  New  Year's  text  was  ivSe,  Philip,  iii.  13. 

I  humbly  thank  God  for  his  mercy  to  H ;  though  now  I 

am  almost  as  anxious  that  he  should  be  the  right  sort  of  Chris- 
tian as  I  was  that  he  should  be  converted. 

Daily  do  I  grow  more  opposed  to  pews.     I  honour  Popery 
and  Puseyism  for  this  point.     Free  churches  are  unanimously 
voted  a  nuisance  by  New  York  Christians  ;  but  my  mind  is  mi- 
chano;ed.     They  have,  with  us,  always  been  undertaken  by  poor 
preachers.     If  such  Chrysostoms    as  you  and  I  wot  of  were  to 
open  a  free  church,  it  would  tell  another  story  ;    and  I  am  per- 
suaded the  only  w^ay  to  effect  it  will  be  for  individual  preachers 
to  lead  the  way.     I  have  not  the  spirit  of  a  reformer,  or  I  know 
what  I  would  do.     My  Tuesday  lecture  is  the  only  service  in 
which  I  feel  at  all  apostolical.     Addison  preached  here  once  on 
Sunday  for  McAuley's  young  men.     A  new  school  of  Evangeli- 
cals in  Germany  has  broached  a  doctrine  about  the  church  which 
would  solve  some  enigmas  about  the  broken  condition  of  visible 
Christianity.     It  is  this  :  1.  God  founded  and  organized  a  Jewish 
church.    2.  This  was  the  only  organization.     3.  It  is  in  suspension 
and  abevance  since  the  Advent.     4.  There  is  no  explicit  founding 
of  a  Christian  church.     5.  The  Israelitisii  church  will  be  restored, 
with   a   spiritualizing  of  its  forms,  &c.     The   Irvingites   agree 
with  this  in  part.     At  our  communion  we  had  twelve  on  certifi- 
cate, and  five  on  examination.     Almost  all  the  catechumens  I 
personally  taught  in  1844,  have  come  in.     One  of  such  revealed 
his  case  to  me  this  evening  after  lecture.     I  should  feel  the 
mysteries  multiplied  by  supposing  Christ  not  to  have  been  God 
before  his  baptism.     It  would  then  be  "  The  flesh  became  Word," 
and  not  "  The  Word  became  flesh."     Nor  do  I  see  any  gain  as 
to  the  "  body  prepared,"  which  is  equally  true  of  the  moment  of 
conception,  and  which  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  ^re-paration. 
■On  every  point  respecting  the  Trinity  and  Incarnation  the  Catho- 
lic (I  may  say  Tridentine)  doctrines  seem  to  me  most  fully  to 


1851—1857.  195 

meet  all  objection  ;  having  been  gradually  worn  into  shape  by 
the  collision  of  short-lived  heresies. 

Prince  Albert  seems  to  be  threatened  with  evil  days.  The 
queen  must  come  in  for  her  share.  There  seems  to  be  something 
very  vacillating  in  the  recent  policy  of  England.  No  hand  at  the 
helm  bears  strong.  Who  knows  but  Providence  means  Con- 
stantinople to  fell  again  as  in  1453  1  There  is  a  long  account  to 
settle  with  the  Turk.  In  some  unknown  way  the  Greek  church, 
not  near  so  corrupt  as  many  think,  may  be  made  to  countervail 
Rome,  and  perhaps  to  be  herself  reformed.  I  lately  got  a  Greek 
prayer-book,  and  among  much  rubbish  find  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  long,  beautiful,  pathetic,  evangelical  confession  and 
prayer.  Two  of  the  Chinese  insurrectionists,  leading  men,  lately 
visited  Shang-hae  incog.,  and  talked  with  Culbertson.  Though 
they  had  never  seen  a  New  Testament,  they  seemed  to  be  Chris- 
tian and  converted  men.  Happer's  letters  in  the  Presbyterian 
are  evidently  on  the  unfavourable  extreme.  It  has  not  been 
mentioned  that  the  dynasties  now  threatened  in  both  wars, 
Chinese  and  Turkish,  are  both  Tartarian.  The  Gog  and  Magog- 
ish  aspect  of  this  ought  to  be  nuts  for  our  prophet-mongers. 

New  York,  March  14,  1854. 
A  Scotch  Presbyterian  of  my  acquaintance  lately  gave  his 
son  $300  for  reading  through  Pool's  Annotations  on  the  Old  and 
New  Testament.  My  sermon  on  the  prayers  of  the  unconverted 
was  not  so  pleasing  to  one  hearer,  who  sent  me  eight  pages  of 
confutations — said  she  uttered  the  "voice  of  God,"  that  she 
hardly  refrained  "  from  rising  in  the  church  and  uttering  the  true 
doctrine,"  &c.  More  young  persons  are  serious  among  us  than 
I  have  known  before.  Our  Mission-school  does  well.  We  have 
set  up  another  down  town,  in  which  is  a  class  of  adult  Germans. 
I  think  the  "  Household  Words  "  contains  some  of  Dickens's  best 
writing.  Now  and  then  there  is  a  sneaking  dab  at  evangelical 
religion.  The  Astor  Library  is  a-goiug  ;  but  no  library  1  have 
ever  seen,  not  even  the  Bodleian,  has  left  such  traces  on  my  im- 
agination as  the  Old  Philadelphia,  which  I  want  to  see  again.  I 
hardly  ever  buy  a  book,  and  latterly  have  read  few.  I  have 
almost  to  say,  "  Quand  je  veux  des  livres,  j'en  fais."  Yesterday 
I  put  the  last  sentence  to  the  Memoir.  Without  my  planning 
so,  this  fell  on  the  day  of  my  completing  my  half-century.  The 
occasion  was  celebrated  as  much  as  my  modesty  would  allow. 
The  President  of  your  Senate  [his  brother,  W.  C.  A.]  appeared 
at  breakfost,  and  accompanied  me  out  of  the  house.  The  steam- 
ship Knoxville  conveyed  me  out  to  Sandy  Hook  and  back,  with 
about  five  hundred  invited  guests.     It  was  really  beyond  my 


196  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   riFTH   AYEXUE   CHUECH. 

wish  that  the  Asia,  which  we  spoke,  should  have  fired  two  gmis. 
Ill  the  evening  about  one  hundred  gentlemen,  chiefly  of  the  cloth, 
attended  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Stuart.  I  was  handsomely  received. 
The  speech  was  much  applauded  ;  it  was  by  Dr.  Duff*  of  Calcut- 
ta. The  band  of.  music,  nearly  opposite,  played  till  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  loth.     I  have  every  reason  to  be  satisfied.^ 

It  is  really  delightful  to  hear  Duff,  and  to  see  him.  His  awk- 
wardness and  lobstering  defy  description.  He  seems  to  have  a 
bet  that  he  will  get  the  collar  of  his  coat  above  his  left  ear  once  in 
every  sentence.  His  accent  is  the  pleasantest  Scotch.  There  is 
to  me  great  music  in  his  intonations.  What  commands  me  is 
his  wonderful  sense.  His  humour  is  native,  and  bursts  out 
everywhere.  At  times  he  is  sharply  sarcastic.  I  feel  that  he  is 
eminently  a  spiritual  man.  I  hope  they  will  not  kill  him.  He 
spoke  two  hours  and  twenty  minutes  at  the  Tabernacle.  From 
his  schools  at  Calcutta  there  have  come  20,000  Hindoo  pupils. 
A  plain  but  pious  man  of  our  church  lately  made  a  suggestion  to 
me,  which  indicates  Christian  labour  in  a  right  direction.  He  is 
a  clothier,  employing  five  hundred  hands.  He  is  imj^ressed  with 
the  fact  that  in  our  efforts  to  do  good  the  relation  of  employer 
and  employed  is  ignored.  He  proposes  that  every  Christian  em- 
plo3'eT  should  seek  the  benefit  of  his  emj)loyes.  He  points  out 
methods.  He  suggests  associations  of  employers  for  mutual 
illumination  and  incitement,  and  to  accomplish  jointly  through 
visiters,  Bible-readers,  &c.,  wdiat  cannot  be  done  so  well  singly. 
He  has  a  number  warmly  engaged  with  him.  The  scheme  con- 
templates the  Germans  chiefl}^  Pie  astonished  me  by  saying 
that  the  calculated  number  of  hands  engaged  by  wholesale 
clothiers  in  New  York  is  25,000,  of  whom  two-thirds  are  Ger- 
mans. There  is  so  much  real  working-spirit  among  these  pious 
clothiers,  that  I  can't  help  hoping  it  is  of  God.  At  our  sacra- 
ment six  on  examination,  and  two  on  certificate.  About  seven 
are  ready  in  my  judgment.  One  of  my  Sunday  School  women 
sees  almost  every  one  of  her  pupils  brought  into  the  church.  I 
hope  our  Mission-school  and  chapel-edifice  will  go  up  after  all. 
Within  three  weeks  we  have  collected  for  it  $15,500. 

Xew  York,  May,  1854. 
At  no  time  in  my  ministry  have  so  many  been  coming  to  me 
to  talk  of  their  souls.  These  are  not  known  to  one  another. 
One  interesting  case  is  of  a  young  lady  from  Central  America, 
who  did  not  know  a  word  of  English  four  years  ago,  but  now 
seems  to  be  an  instructed  and  converted  person.     A  refugee 

^  This  mock  celebration  of  his  birth-day  is  made  up  of  a  trial  trip  of  a 
new  vessel,  and  of  a  soiree  iu  honor  of  Dr.  Duff. 


1851—1857.  19T 

Italian  painter  is  a  constant  attendant,  and  professes  to  have 
embraced  Protestantism. 

The  noblest  Gothic  church  of  modern  London  is  that  of  the 
Irvingites.  The  millenarian  pamphlet  entitled  "The  Coming 
Struggle,"  which  has  had  so  prodigious  a  run,  on  account  of  sevS 
ral  happy  prophetic  hits,  has  already  falsified  itself;  as  it  boldly 
declares  that  England  is  to  stand  aloof,  and  have  no  part  in  the 
contest  with  Russia. 

I  had  no  proper  idea  of  Dr.  Duff's  eloquence  until  I  heard 
him  before  the  Bible  Society.  His  personal  religion  shone  out 
very  much  in  his  later  speeches.  He  has  a  marvellous  command 
of  a  sort  of  long-winded  but  most  expressive  diction,  and  his  ad- 
jectives are  generally  substantives,  and  not  epithets. 

Dr.  Proudfit  has,  in  his  new'  Review,'  fully  demonstrated 
aganist  Schaff,  that  none  of  the  Fathers  made  Peter  to  be  the 
Rock  ;  nor  any  one  else  before  the  Middle  Ages.     I  never  had 
any  doubt  about  Christ's  naming  himself  by  2^etra,  any  more 
than  himself  by  [Destroy]   "this  temple;"  but  I  did  not  sup- 
pose that  all  the  Fathers  held  so  too,  against  all  their  doctrinal 
prepossessions.     There  continues  to  be  much  quiet  seriousness 
among  my  hearers.     Yesterday  I  heard  of  five  cases  unknown  to 
me  before;    but  this  concurrence  is  very  extraordinary.     My 
lecture  is  very  full  and  very  serious.     I  have  arrived,  in  the  Life 
of  Christ,  at  the  last  passover.     The  Nebraska  bill  has  passed. 
I  have  never  opposed  it,  but  feel  very  sad  at  the  prospect  of  in- 
creased slavery.     As  to  what  would  be  the  fact,  I  suppose  this 
rests  on  causes  which  will  not  be  affected  one  way  or  the  other 
by  this  bill.     The  marshalling  of  South  against  North  is  more 
open  and  violent  than  I  remember.     My  "  Consolation"  is  out 
in   12mo.'     I  see  great  defects  in  my  "  Memoir  ;  "  but  this  plan 
of  stereotyping  every  thing  is  very  unfavourable  to  the  perfec- 
tionating  of  one's  Avorks.     My  quondam  chum,  Waterbury,  has 
gone  to  Europe,  his  eyesight  being  threatened;  he  is  one  of 
the  best  and  kindest  of  men.     I  have  just  sold  a  tract  of  land  in 
Virginia  ;  the  names  of  the  creeks  amused  me :   Little  Pedler, 
Sinking  Swamp,    Enchanted,  and   Love-lady.     The   avails   are 

I>1U  05.     L M said  to  me  t'other  day :  "  I  have  been 

an  organist  all  my  life ;  yet  if  a  congregation  should  say  to  me, 
'  Shall  we  have  an  organ  1 '  I  should  scarcely  dare  to  reply  '  Yes.'  " 
Old  Mr.  Scott  said  in  1849,  "  We  fare  well  in  our  church  ;  last 
Sabbath  we  had  Kittle  and  Potts  ;  to-day  Krehs  (pronounced  by 
hmi  crahi)  and  Eelhr     Such  was  literally  the  fact. 

I  have  often  tended  to  your  opinion  on  the   fugitive   busi- 
ness ;  but  these  things  make  me  pause,  viz. :  if  the  slaves  are  not 
'  "  The  New  Brunswick  Review."  =  The  first  edition  was  in  octavo. 


198  WHILE   PASTOR   OF  FIFTH   AVENUE   CHURCH. 

sent  back,  the  peril  of  their  escape  and  their  other  sufferings  M'ill 
be  much  increased  :  again,  \ve  shall  be  flooded  with  runaways, 
and  our  free  negroes  are  burden  enough  already  :  lastly,  I  don't 
see  how  such  a  state  of  things  can  continue  long,  without  war  ad 
internecionem  upon  the  borders.  Yet  I  believe  that  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  will  be  repealed,  and  that  the  Union  will  be  dissolved 
on  this  question,  sooner  or  later.  The  second  Psalm  is  my  chief 
comfort  in  j^olitics. 

Though  not  quite  a  millenarian,  I  was  struck  with  these 
words  of  Chalmers  to  Bickersteth  :  "  But  without  slacking  in  the 
least  our  obligation  to  keep  forward  this  great  (missionary) 
cause,  1  look  for  its  conclusive  establishment  through  a  widening 
passage  of  desolating  judgments,  with  the  utter  demolition  of 
our  present  civil  and  ecclesiastical  structures."  I  find  no  meeting 
so  hard  to  conduct  as  the  Monthly  Concert,  so  called.  Now  and 
then  I  have  some  keen  chagrins  at  finding,  from  imperfect  lists, 
&c.,  that  I  have  neglected  some  worthy  family  for  several  years. 
Such  things  plague  me  more  than  greater  trials,  and  not  always 
in  a  warrantable  way.  Houses  about  here  are  so  near  together 
as  to  be  almost  a  Fourierite  phalanstery,  and  now  that  windows 
are  up  we  have  sometimes  two  or  three  sets  of  piano-twangle 
and  opera-squalls  at  once.  A  hundred  Chinese  have  been  found 
in  New  York ;  of  whom  thirty-five  last  week  attended  instruction 
in  Chinese  from  a  missionary,  Mr.  Syle. 

New  York,  July  4,  1854. 
Thermometer  85°  in  my  study  at  11  A.  M.  I  went  to 
Albany  yesterday,  and  returned  the  same  day,  having  six  hours 
in  Albany.  In  going  there  was  no  oppression  of  heat,  but  the 
return  was  distress  equal  to  any  thing  of  the  torrid  sort  I  ever 
felt,  and  this  is  par  excellence  my  weak  point.  I  took  a  warm 
bath  and  two  cups  of  tea,  and  was  quite  restored  ;  but  the 
pandemoniacal  squibs  and  crackers  prevented  the  sleep  I  hoped 
for.  Some  good  chat  with  Sprague.  Says  his  correspondence 
is  from  five  to  ten  letters  per  diem,  and  that  he  despatches  these 
before  breakfast — that  he  regularly  goes  round  his  flock  in  visits 
twice  every  year — that  he  writes  two  sermons  every  week — that 
he  has  not  preached  an  old  sermon  for  seven  years.  His  com- 
municants are  more  than  TOO.  He  visits  each  fomily  of  his 
charge  twice  a  year,  spending  on  this  the  hours  from  11  to  2. 
My  congregation  is  thin  indeed — though  more  than  half  present 
are  strangers.  We  shall  again  keep  open  this  year  ;  but  I  ex- 
pect to  take  my  family  to  Newport  on  the  11th.  Our  church 
was  entered  last  week,  and  the  j^ulpit  Bible  abstracted.  A  fire 
was  also  made  under  the  stairs,  with  a  bundle  of  combustibles, 


1851—1857.  190 

but  it  hurned  out,  leaving  a  pile  of  cinders  and  ashes  on  the 
floor.  I  have  had  donations  of  port-wine  from  two  quarters, 
during  the  heats;  showing  a  remarkable  discrimination  in  my 
worthy  parishioners.  One  of  the  parcels  purports  to  be  real 
Old  London  Dock,  imported  to  order. 

Scribner  is  gone  to  England.  My  book  on  Consolation  is 
about  to  be  put  out  by  Nelson  of  Edinburgh.  Cholera  is  plainly 
increasing  among  us,  but  without  that  feeling  of  panic  which 
commonly  accompanies  pestilences.  The  papers  pretend  that 
rain-water  keeps  off  cholera  ;  but  it  has  never  been  worse  than 
at  such  islands  as  St.  Thomas,  where  they  drink  no  other. 


Newport,  July  31,  1854. 
Ink  runs  in  these  latitudes.  Thayer  is  as  agreeable  and  in- 
structive a  preacher  as  ever.  He  is  much  beloved  by  his  peo- 
ple, and  does  good  among  all  classes.  Stanhope  Prevost,  a 
grandson  of  President  Smith,  and  an  old  playmate  of  mine,  is 
here,  from  Lima.  His  Spanish  wife  and  children  speak  no  Eng- 
lish. The  current  is  setting  in  New  England  so  much  in  flivour 
of  congregational  singing,  that  at  the  commencement  at  Andover, 
next  week,  they  are  to  disuse  their  choir-display,  and  sing  old- 
fashioned  psalmody.  Prof.  Stowe  has  been  preaching  some 
weeks  to  the  students  on  the  Millennium.  I  have  been  study- 
ing Maurice's  book,  [the  Boyle  Lectures.]  He  is  all  fog ; 
belonging  to  that  class  of  minds  who  are  great  at  starting  objec- 
tions, and  taking  the  side  of  adversaries,  but  impotent  in  the 
work  of  upbuilding.  I  am  now  upon  Candlish's  answer ;  a  work 
of  some  strength,  and  sufficiently  confutative  of  M.,  (no  great 
task,)  but  hasty  and  often  obscure.  Maurice  really  surrenders 
the  Trinity,  Atonement,  Inspiration,  Resurrection,  and  Future 
Punishment. 

Newport,  August  21,  1854. 
Your  letter,  in  its  closing  part,  so  entirely  removed  all  expec- 
tation of  our  seeing  K.,  that  I  was  really  surprised  when  she 
called  on  us  to-day.  She  is  looking  exceedingly  well,  and  is  full 
of  that  happiness  among  new  scenes,  which  sits  so  well  on 
youth,  and  which  it  is  one  of  the  peculiar  pleasures  of  old  folks 
to  contemplate  without  envy.  I  am  glad  to  see  how  thoroughly 
she  has  escaped  all  affectations,  even  those  conventional  ones 
which  one  looks  for  in  young  ladies ;  it  is  a  negative  charm 
worth  a  thousand  et  ceteras.  There  have  been  some  cases  of 
cholera  here,  but  it  is  said  they  are  abating ;  and  there  is  no 
evacuation  of  the  hotels.     I  hope  there  is  no  harm  in  going  to  a 


200  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHrECH. 

boat-race,  as  I  did  on  tlie  12tli.  I  was  in  a  yacht,  and  went  out 
some  miles  to  sea.  The  sight  was  beautiful.  Besides  the  racers, 
the  harbour  and  outer  bays  were  covered  with  hundreds  of 
beautiful  craft.  Last  week,  John  Auchincloss  took  a  shark 
twelve  feet  long.  The  drought  is  oppressive  here,  but  the  air  is 
temperate  and  agreeable.  I  took  my  twenty-fifth  bath  to-day. 
I  am  the  only  clerical  loafer  here ;  last  year  there  were  many. 
j\Iy  intercourse  with  T.  continues  to  be  very  pleasant ;  he 
strangely  unites  the  philosophical  preacher  with  the  laborious 
and  affable  pastor,  and  is  uncommonly  zealous  in  looking  after 
the  lower  classes.  JNIary  Williams's  "  comfortable  boarding- 
house  "  is  still  fraught  with  goodly  broadbrims.  Congregational 
singing  is  unknown  here.  At  Dr.  Choules's,  psalmody  is  the 
act  of  staring  at  the  gallery,  with  all  backs  to  the  pulpit.  We 
have  here  Bancroft,  Sumner,  Archer  of  Virginia,  Curtis,  and 
Gen.  Almonte  with  coach  and  four.  B.  has  purchased,  or  will 
purchase,  a  house  here ;  he  is  a  candidate  for  our  little  Rhode 
Island  mitre.  He  has  the  proper  size,  and  preaches  evangel- 
icallv.  The  orthodox  Quakers  have  an  immense  barn  here,  in 
which  the  New  England  yearly  meeting  assembles  ;  but  they 
talk  of  taking  it  to  Lvnn.  There  is  a  secession  of  "  Wilburites," 
led  by  John  W.  of  this  State,  wdiom  I  suppose  to  be  like  the 
Hicksites.  The  Baptists  are  very  strong  ;  they  dip  in  the  salt- 
water. Several  churches  are  open-communion.  The  early  (Roger 
Williams)  Baptists  disused  singing  at  w^orship,  as  having  no 
Scripture  precedent.  The  traditions  of  the  slave-trade  of  New- 
port and  Bristol  are  curious.  I  know  no  town  which  has  such  a 
proportion  of  blacks  and  yellows,  as  this.  AVith  no  disposition 
to  judge  harshly,  but  all  the  reverse,  I  am  led  to  think  that  what 
we  regard  as  experimental  piety  is  at  a  low  ebb  in  New  Eng- 
land. The  revival  day  has  gone  by.  I  hear  of  no  savoury  old- 
time  Christians.  Of  Unitarians,  I  find  many  more  than  I  expect- 
ed. The  absence  of  a  spirit  of  worship,  in  assemblies,  is  A^ery 
striking.  Communion-seasons  are  brief  and  perfunctory,  and 
the  ordinance  is  just  an  addition,  as  when  we  baptize  a  child. 
The  New  England  clergy  seem  to  me  a  highly  cultivated  class ; 
but  the  elegant  or  ingenious  essay-style  gains  ground  in  ser- 
mons.    Expository  preaching  is  absolutely  unknown,  so  far  as  I 

can   learn.     I   have   seen  a  number  of  young  preachers. 

They  are  scholarly,  but  somehow  impress  me  as  totally  devoid 

of  ministerial  zeal.     The  intellectual  and  tasteful  in appears 

to  have  a  forming  influence  on  all  the  new  race  of  preachers.  I 
own  my  survey  has  been  somewhat  narrow,  but  I  should  have 
expected  an  exception  here  and  there. 


1851—1857.  201 

ISTew  York,  September  21,  1854. 
Yours  of  the  5th  was  back^Yarded  to  me  from  Newport 
to-clay.  I  have  read  Gurney^  with  much  pleasure  and  some 
admiration.  As  in  the  case  of  ]\Irs.  Fry  and  William  Allen,  I 
was  deeply  impressed  with  the  truth,  that  whatsoever  in. him  is 
good,  is  independent  of  Quakerism.  One  is  ready  to  blush,  to 
read  the  petty  arguments  of  such  a  mind,  for  the  hat  and  the 
plain  language.  He  was  a  good  man  ;  but  I  am  unable  to  see 
wherein  he  even  approaches,  either  in  spirituality  or  self-denial, 
most  of  the  good  missionaries  and  ministers  whose  biography 
is  written.  I  read  Judson's  Life  about  the  same  time ;  and 
while  I  differ  as  much  from  J.  as  from  G.,  I  see  in  him  a  hun- 
dred-fold more  Christian  greatness.  Who  can  imagine  that  the 
travelling  sermons  of  Gurney  did  much  good  ?  whereas  Judson 
was  instrumental  in  giving  a  noble  version  of  the  Scriptures  to 
a  great  empire,  and  of  converting  thousands  of  Burmese.  I 
heard  two  of  Gurney's  sermons  ;  they  were  good  for  a  Quaker, 
but  no  whit  above  the  average  of  our  plain  j)reachers.  I  ran  up 
to  Newton,  Sussex.  Though  I  had  been  there  once,  many  years 
ago,  I  really  had  forgotten  how  lovely  a  country  it  is.  With- 
out being  Alpine,  it  is  mxost  picturesquely  mountainous,  and  the 
air  is  as  good  at  Newton,  as  at  Schooley's  Mountain.  Their 
railway  Avill  soon  complete  the  remaining  twelve  miles  ;  and 
then  you  could  get  there  via  Newark,  in  a  few  hours.  Never 
have  I  passed  a  summer  with  so  little  gastric  trouble.  The 
only  death  in  my  charge  has  been  a  consumptive,  set.  80.  Mr. 
H.  has  been  talked  of,  in  reference  to  a  new  (or  revived)  "  enter- 
prise "  at  the  beautiful  village  of  Oyster  Bay,  L.  I.,  which  is  fast 
becoming  a  summer  resort.  On  your  authority,  I  spoke  well  of 
him  to  one  of  the  chief  men.  I  hope  he  would  not  object  to  be 
ostracized.^ 

New  York,  October  21,  1854. 
This  is  the  fourteenth  day  of  my  illness,  and  I  am  still  in  my 
room,  though  dressed  and  sitting  up  a  good  deal.  My  disease 
has  been  obscure.  It  has  given  me  more  severe  pain  than  all 
my  previous  sicknesses  put  together  ;  but  it  has  been  clean  pain, 
without  nausea  or  depletory  j)rocesses.  It  has  been  a  series  of 
dreadful  paroxysms,  averaging  about  eight  hours  each  ;  of  these 

^  Memoirs  of  Joseph  John  Gurney.     Edited  by  Joseph  B.  Braithwaite. 

^  In  the  early  part  of  October  of  this  year  Di\  Alexander  was  prostrated 
by  an  excruciating  and  alarming  disease,  the  progress  of  which  will  appear 
in  the  letters.  On  the  14th  October  he  informed  me  by  an  amanuensis  that 
he  had  been  laid  up  for  seven  days.  He  was  not  able  to  preach  after  Ocio- 
ber  8  until  Xovember  10. 

VOL  II.— 9* 


202  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHrECH. 

I  have  had  about  five.  In  their  acme,  the  pain  was  all  but  intol- 
erable. One  night  I  took  what  would  equal  480  drops  of  lauda- 
num, "svithout  effect.  My  doctor  (Delafield)  is  a  very  Napoleon 
in  decision ;  but  his  methods  are  mild,  and  he  exactly  resembles 
Dr.  Belleville  [vol.  i.,  125]  in  his  expectant  practice.  I  have 
from  the  beginning  supposed  that  the  root  of  the  evil  was  cal- 
culus. Spasmodic  colic  co-exists.  In  the  intervals  I  am  won- 
derfully smart.  I  ought  to  say  that  Divine  considerations  have 
been  of  great  support  to  me,  especially  ^Yhen  I  was  almost  gone 
with  pain. 

New  Yokk,  October  29,  1854. 

Since  the  20th  I  have  been  free  from  the  peculiar  pain,  the 
very  remembrance  of  which  malvcs  me  shudder.  At  present  I 
am  suffering  chiefly  from  the  impression  on  my  nervous  system 
of  so  much  severe  pain.  I  have  appetite,  take  a  glass  of  j)ort 
and  gentian  bitters,  drive  out  for  an  hour,  and  walk  fifteen  to 
t\^"enty  minutes.  You  may  imagine  I  have  a  great  feeling  of 
worthlessness.  I  ought  ever  to  be  thankful,  that  in  my  most 
painful  moments,  the  great  truths,  which  I  trust  I  have  believed, 
were  not  less  clear  or  less  precious  than  usual,  but  unspeakably 
more  so.  I  wish  to  make  record  of  this.  I  did  not  find  that 
intense  and  wasting  pain  took  away  the  power  of  thinking,  but 
all  the  other  way.  While  it  is  fresh  I  wish  to  write  down,  that 
in,  with,  and  under  all  the  very  poignant  distress,  there  was 
an  under-current  of  peace  and  religious  satisfaction,  which  now 
comes  up  associated  with  the  pain — but  more  abiding  in  my 
mind  than  the  pain.  These  are  new  experiences  for  me.  In 
former  illnesses,  my  head  was  always  cloudy ;  in  this,  I  had 
pure,  unadulterate  pain. 

Dreadful,  dreadful  war  !  [Crimea.]  Bootless  carnage,  and 
for  what?  I  have  been  skimming  Alison's  new  series  of 
volumes,  and  have  not  had  my  love  of  the  Turk  or  his  allies 
increased,  by  reading  of  the  Greek  revolution,  Scio,  Navarino, 
the  former  campaigns  of  the  Pruth  and  Balkan,  Diebitseh,  &c. 
While  an  uncontrolled  sway  of  the  Czar  over  all  the  east  of 
Europe  would  seem  bad,  I  own  I  am  struck  with  three  consid- 
erations :  1.  The  Turk  is  antichristian,  fanatical,  fiiithless,  bloody, 
and  doomed.  2.  The  Czar  is  the  natural  counterpoise  of  the 
Pope  ;  and  it  is  significant  that  most  of  the  Eomish  powers  are 
against  Russia.  3.  Russia  is  the  only  European  power  from 
whom  America  could  hope  for  much,  in  case  these  same  allies 
should  direct  their  forces  against  the  United  States.  Well,  "  He 
that  is  higher  than  the  highest  regardeth ;  and  there  be  higher 
than  they." 


1S51— 1857.  203 

Did  you  know  that  the  Free  Church  people  publish  a  hand- 
some quarterly  at  Edinburgh,  almost  entirely  made  up  of 
articles  from  American  reviews  '] ' 

New  York,  November  3,  1854. 

I  learn  that  the  late  diplomatic  congress  at  Ostend  has  settled 

that  Cuba  is  immediately  to  be  ours— I  suppose  bloodlessly.     [A 

prominent  politician]  said  the  other  night :  "  If  I  were  President, 

I  would  declare  war  against  England  in  two  days  ;  so  as  to  be 

beforehand  with  them."     I  did  not  hear  the  casus  belli.     It  does 

not  seem  to  me  that  the  Bible  House  is  a  bit  larger  or  grander 

than  it  ought  to  be  ;  especially  as  it  has  been  a  source  of  revenue, 

and  was  built  by  special  subscription  of  friends.     The  moral 

impression  of  such  a  structure  gives  me  pleasure  every  time  I 

pass.'     It  is  said  that  one  of  the  passengers  became  perfectly 

gray  during  the  night  of  the  Arctic'     I  have  a  sermon  which  I 

preached  on  board  that  vessel,   [May  25,   1851,]   on  the  text, 

"  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead,"  &c. ;  in  which  is  a  description  of 

just  such  a  mode  of  death.     It  was  much  censured  at  the  time, 

as   alarming   and  unseasonable.     The  crimes   of  our   city  are 

horrid,  but  they  are  committed  chiefly  by  foreigners.     Of  the 

1,500  Avho  daily  land  here  from  Europe,  the  worst,  for  various 

reasons,  never  get  beyond  New  York,  except  to  go  to  the  State's 

Prison.     Balloons  go  up  every  few  days  in  our  neighbourhood  ; 

one  to-day  with  four  inmates.     I  have  a  little  handbook  for 

young  communicants  in  the  press.* 

1  have  expressly  consigned  to  Adams  &  Co.  the  parcel  of 
books.  If  you  have  not  been  familiar  with  Bengel,  [Gnomon,] 
you  will  be  struck  with  his  pith,  and  the  unexpectedness  of  his 
remarks.  I  was  so  delighted  with  Dacosta  as  a  man,  that  I  read 
his  volume  with  great  pleasure.'  You  will,  amidst  his  enthu- 
siasm, find  some  new  remarks  on  the  comparison  of  the  gospels. 
Beinn-'now  near  the  end  of  a  long  course  on  the  Life  of  Christ,  I 

^  "  Tlie  British  and  Foreign  Evangelical  Review."  In  the  successive 
volumes  of  this  work  many  of  Dr.  Alexander's  articles  in  the  Repertory 

were  reprinted.  -,        i    j  j 

^  This  was  said  in  reply  to  an  opinion  his  correspondent  had  expressed 

the  other  way.  c^7  ioka 

2  This  steamship  was  wrecked  on  her  trip  to  America,  September  27,  1804. 

*  "  Plain  Words  to  a  Young  Communicant : "  published  by  Randolph, 
1854  Pp  113.  His  only  contributions  to  the  Repertory  of  1854  were— 1. 
"  Curiosities  of  German  University  Life."  2.  "  Sketches  of  the  Pulpit  in 
Ancient  and  in  Modern  Times."  .  . 

*  His  meetin<^  with  Dr.  Isaac  Dacosta,  of  Amsterdam,  is  mentioned  in 
Chap.  IX.  of  this  volume.  The  work  alluded  to  is  "  The  Four  ^^  itnesses  : 
a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  on  a  new  principle." 


204  WHILE   PASTOE    OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHrKCH. 

am  more  averse  tlian  ever  to  the  method  of  a  Diatessaron, 
except  when  used  as  a  mere  tabular  help  for  collation.  One 
could  endure  no  other  history,  made  up  thus.  I  a2;ree  with  you 
about  Jay.  It  is  servile  and  does  him  injustice.^  Never  put  off 
your  reminiscences  till  you  are  past  80.  I  remember  how  dif- 
ferent his  "  Life  of  Winter,"  w^hich  ought  to  be  reprinted.  The 
new  edition  of  Bickersteth's  Works,  16  vols.  18mo,  $10,  is  a 
cheap  book.  Even  when  I  cannot  see  with  him  as  to  the  prophe- 
cies, I  always  feel  that  I  am  conversing  with  an  eminently 
holy  man.  This  imjiression  is  made  on  me  especially  by  the 
"  Signs  of  the  Times,"  one  of  his  last  works.  The  little  prize- 
essay  of  Winthrop  is  not  to  be  despised.^  It  really  seems  to 
me  that  Lord  starts  right.^  His  way  of  finding  what  a  symbol 
means,  must  be  the  true  one.  It  is  some  merit,  where  all  was 
di/o/xta,  to  digest  some  laws.  But  his  results  are  often  odd 
enough,  and  sometimes  bathetic.  His  conception  about  the 
seven  kine  and  seven  ears,  is  funny  enough.  I  like  an  expression 
of  Trench,  in  his  book  on  Bible  synonymes  :  "  to  awaken  in  our 
scholars  an  enthusiasm  for  the  grammar  and  lexicon."  This  has 
been  my  great  "  Help  to  Preaching,"  and  more  and  more  so. 
Nothing  has  so  suggested  not  only  meanings,  but  parallels, 
illustrations,  divisions,  and  inferences.  As  I  twice  declined  the 
augmentation  of  stipend,  our  trustees  have  insured  my  life ; 
payable  to  relict.  It  is  indeed  a  Godsend,  to  one  who  never 
would  lay  up,  if  his  salary  were  820,000.  As  w^e  are  cutting 
ourselves  off  more  and  more  from  the  old  world,  and  likely  to 
carry  out  the  JMonroe  doctrine,  it  seems  to  me  that  Christians  in 
the  United  States  are  proportionally  more  bound  to  devise 
means  of  sending  the  gospel  to  Spanish  America.  Brazil  is 
quite  open,  and  New  Grenada  nearly  so.  It  seems  to  me  that 
this,  along  with  the  black  and  red  men,  falls  more  justly  to  our 
share,  than  Hindoos,  Nestorians,  Druzes,  Arabs,  or  Turks.  If  I 
could  have  one  sufficient  ex  tempore  prayer  in  each  diet,  I 
should  be  glad  to  have  a  prescribed  form  for  those  thiugs  which 
we  ought  ahvays  to  pray  for  :  e.  g.  government,  genei-al  thanks- 
giving, (SoC.  I  would  have  the  Lord's  Prayer,  Creed,  Te  Dcum, 
Gloria  in  Excelsis,  and  a  few  more  ancient  portions.  Our 
church  singing  is  of  the  very  plainest  sort,  and  the  people  join 
pretty  generally.     This  has  been  the  result  of  (1)  a  limited  list 

^  The  Autobiography  of  the  Rev.  "William  Jay,  edited  by  Dr.  Redford 
and  Rev.  J,  A.  James. 

-  "  The  Premium  Essay  on  the  Characteristics  and  Laws  of  Prophetic 
Symbols.     By  the  Rev.  Edward  Winthrop."     New  York  :  F.  Knight,  1854. 

^  Editor  of  the  Theological  and  Literary  Journal,  Avho  offered  the  pre- 
mium. 


1851—1857.  205 

of  tunes,  and  (2)  these  very  easy,  with  no  repeats,  and  scarcely 
any  slurs  or  dividing  of  syllables.  But  the  protest  of  our 
young  people  has  been  formidable. 

New  York,  January  23,  1855. 

The  trembling  of  my  hand,  which  I  inherit  from  mother  and 
grandtlither,  makes  me  try  first  one  hand-(writing)  and  then 
another — as  I  can  go  steadiest.  I  answer  two  of  yours  in  one  ; 
and  accept  your  apology  for  poor  paper,  as  valid  for  the  whole 
ream.  I  wish  I  knew  Mrs.  Gurney.  I  once  saw  her  at  David 
Clark's  before  her  marriage ;  it  was  in  J.  J.  G.'s  company  that  I 
went  there.  I  wish  she  would  put  the  life  of  Anna  Backhonse 
into  the  shops.  Just  before  opening  your  letter,  I  opened  one 
from  a  young  lady,  in  deep  affliction,  thanking  me  for  the  copy 
of  A.  B.'s  life,  (which  I  received  from  Mrs.  G.,)  lent  her  by  me. 
Anna  is  one  of  my  saints.^ 

Most  that  doctors  do  with  success  seems  to  be  opening  an 
alley  for  nature  to  have  fair  play,  and  elbow  room,  to  carry  the 
disorder  out  of  doors.  This  accounts  for  the  seeming  success  of 
homoeopathies.  I  doubt  not  that  poor  S.'s  case  was  greatly 
aggravated  by  doctoring ;  I  talked  much  with  him  while  the 
medication  was  proceeding.  Our  communion  was  a  week  earlier 
than  yours ;  nine  on  examination,  and  three  on  certificate. 
Several  of  the  cases  were  very  interesting.  I  think  if  I  could 
suppoi't  myself,  I  would  leave  my  charge  any  clay,  and  begin 
down  town ;  I  ought  to  add — -if  I  had  any  prospect  of  life. 
This  is  not  a  new  "  sj^irit ;"  I  never,  in  all  our  correspondence, 
said  any  thing  more  seriously.  I  perfectly  long  to  preach  daily 
in  our  now  finished  new  chapel. 

I  have  read  Muhlenberg's  pamphlet  with  great  delight,  and 
rank  it  very  high  as  a  literary  production.^  It  has  led  me  to 
fall  in  his  way,  with  increase  of  satisfaction.  He  tells  me  his 
Sisters  of  Mercy,  four  in  number,  have  relieved  1,200  cases  of 
distress  since  New  Year's.     R.  has  been  amon2;st  us.^     To  save 


o 


^  The  widow  of  Joseph  John  Gurney,  the  eminent  preacher  find  author 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  was  of  New  Jersey.  Her  Memoir  of  his  daugh- 
ter was  printed  at  Burlington,  in  1852,  for  the  use  of  the  family  and  friends. 

^  "An  Exposition  of  the  Memorial  of  Sundry  Presbyters  of  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church,  presented  to  the  House  of  Bishops  during  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  of  said  Church,  1853.  By  one  of  the  Memorialists."  The 
object  of  the  Memorial  was  to  obtain  some  modifications  of  the  "  modes 
of  public  worship,  and  traditional  customs  and  usages "  in  the  Episcopal 
Church. 

^  The  reputed  author  of  a  Yolume  ("  Charity  and  the  Clergy")  sustain- 
ing the  strictures  of  "  New  Themes  "  on  the  want  of  active  charity  in  the 
Christian  Church. 


206  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CnHRCH. 

my  credit,  he  attended  one  meeting  at  which  our  people  pledged 
8400  a  year  for  our  down  town  mission-school,  and  another  at 
which  he  learned  that  Ave  had  just  raised  $600  for  poor  of  this 
ward.  In  reference  to  this  last  matter,  I  attended  two  meetings 
of  clergy  of  the  Eighteenth  ^Yard,  last  week,  at  which  remarks 
were  made  by  Tyng,  Adams,  Cheever,  Hawks,  Muhlenbei-g, 
Bellows,  Van  Nest,  and  Alexander. 

The  gratuitousness  of  the  preaching,  to  which  I  alluded, 
[page  205,]  would  presuppose  a  fimd  or  collection  for  a  Free 
Church.  If  I  were  ten  years  younger,  I  would  have  a  building 
erected  to  hold  2,000,  and  would  preach  to  free  seats ;  not  that  I 
think  the  existing  plan  ought  to  be  abandoned,  but  because  I 
think  we  ought  to  have  several,  yea  many  plans,  yea  many  sorts 
of  preachers,  "  unlearned  deacons  "  and  all. 

I  find  no  girls  decently  educated  except  at  home,  or  in  the 
country.  I  have  lately  examined  several  eminent  scholars  of 
the  highest  establishment.  Except  French  and  drawing,  they 
have  nothing  accurately,  though  pretending  to  have  ever  so  much 
German,  Latin — ologies,  &c.  I  have  a  Spanish  book  from  a 
Cuban  ex-professor,  and  very  fine  old  man,  inscribed  thus : 
"  Al  Sen'"  D'  Don  J.  W.  Alexander,  D.  D.,  en  memoria  del 
Editor."  Mj  good  friend  and  excellent  sexton  Peter  Tarlsen 
is  dead.  We  buried  him  from  the  church.  The  captain  who 
first  brought  him  to  America  was  there.  Our  landlord  has 
raised  our  rent  from  $900  to  $1,200  ;  we  shall  therefore  move, 
again. 

New  York,  March  14,  1855. 
I  am  truly  glad  that  the  old  college  bell* is  not  lost;  its 
sound  is  sweet  hi  my  ears.'  The  Palnierston  ministry  seems 
hard  to  fix.  Sebastopol  is  taken  less  easily  than  was  at  first 
supposed.  The  Irvingites  number  30,000.  They  now  have  an 
Evangelist  here,  preaching ;  only  on  these  occasions  do  they 
invite  any  hearers.  We  are  about  to  lower  our  organ  loft,  and 
get  an  organ,  and  perhaps  change  the  pulpit :  we  shall  expect 
you  after  the  high  places  are  removed.  I  visited  a  bon  vivant 
very  ill,  whose  only  tie  to  church  or  religion  seems  to  be  the 
memory  of  a  little  boy  who  was  several  years  in  our  Sunday 
school.  The  father  repeated  whole  hymns  which  his  boy  used 
to  say  at  night ;  the  child's  portrait  hauging  all  the  while  in 
sight  by  the  bed.  The  intensity  of  paternal  affection  led  me  to 
dwell  on  that  particular  view  of  God's  love  in  Scripture.  Only 
two  join  our  church  on  examination  ;  one  a  boy  of  fifteen,  the 

^  The  main  edifice  of  Nassau  Hall  was  burnt  March  10. 


1851—1857.  207 

other  a  man  of  fifty.  On  Sunday  I  preached  twice  and  spoke 
something  at  three  other  meetings.  Secretary  [J.  L.]  Wilson 
gave  us  a  truly  awakening  account  of  the  India  missions  the 
other  nio;ht. 

The  life  of  the  Rev.  Andrew^  Broaddus  has  interested  me 
highly.  In  my  young  days  he  was  the  star  of  the  Baptist  pulpit 
in  Virginia.  He  was  a  great  and  good  man,  and  a  preacher  of 
singular  fiscination.  Dr.  Jeter's  "  Campbellism  Examined  "  is 
a  most  able  book  on  that  subject.  I  accord  with  you  in  missing 
the  society  of  sons,  but  this  is  not  so  grieving  as  to  suffer  the 
same  in  regard  of  daughters.  All  these  things  tell  us  that  the 
o-xqi^a  passeth  away. 

Airril  3. — The  dealings  of  God  with  Ahab  make  me  believe 
that  the  great  outward  piety  of  Nicholas  will  not  go  unre- 
warded.    His  death  was  not  an  luichristian  one.^ 

I  expect  to  leave  here  for  Virginia  on  the  0th  inst.,  and  to  go 
first  to  Charlottesville,  and  then  to  Charlotte.  We  open  our 
chapel  for  preaching  next  Sunday.  Dr.  A.  D.  Smith  has  more 
than  1,400  Sunday  scholars. 

Give  profound  salvos  to  all  inquiriturient  and  amicable  vicini- 
ties, from  your  observant  orator,  who  will  ever  pray,  &c. 

Ingleside,  Virginia,  April  20,  1855. 
The  spring  no  longer  coquets,  but  embraces  wath  oriental 
voluptuousness.  Yesterday  would  have  done  for  Florida.  In  a 
north  porch,  in  shade,  the  glass  stood  at  95°  all  the  afternoon. 
This  morning  it  is  less  burning,  but  still  hot.  When  1  arrived 
in  Virginia,  the  spring  was  still  behind,  but  for  two  days  we 
have  almost  seen  it  growing.  All  the  ten  million  blossomings 
of  this  wide  plantation  are  out  together — peach,  apricot,  cherry, 
plum,  crab,  and  apple,  the  last  being  sweetest ;  also  lilach,  straw- 
berry, almond,  corcoras,  hyacinth,  pyrus  japonica,  &e.  The 
wheatfields,  often  of  a  hundred  acres  each,  are  suddenly  green. 
Before  breakfast  I  counted  fourteen  species  of  birds  known  to 
me,  and  two  unknown.  There  are  about  fifty  mocking-birds  in 
and  about  this  lawn,  and  forty  robins  were  counted  on  the 
grass  at  once.  Herds  and  flocks  on  a  large  scale  variegate  the 
prospect.  This  estate  joins  Retirement,  where  I  lived,  and  which 
is  more  in  sight  than  once,  from  cutting  of  woods  away.  The 
house  or  houses  are  ruinous,  but  the  noble  oaks  stand.  The 
place  is  to  be  at  once  improved  by  Henry  A.  Carrington,  to 
whom  his  father  has  given  it.  It  was  twenty-nine  years  on 
Monday,  since  I  preached  my  first  sermon  at  Charlotte  C.  H. 

^  The  Czar  died  March  2,  1855. 


208  WHILE   PASTOE    OF   FIFTH   AVEXUE   CHTECH. 

'riiere  is  now  a  plank-road  of  about  six  miles  from  the  C.  H. 
to  Drake's  Branch ;  a  line  which  is  about  bisected  by  a  planta- 
tion-road of  one  mile,  striking  it  from  this  spot.  This  place  has 
very  much  improved  by  the  growth  of  trees,  and  the  horticultu- 
ral improvements.  In  all  this  country  thei'e  is  no  sign  or  sus- 
picion of  any  suffering.  I  have  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  a 
large  number  of  the  old  blacks,  and  have  been  struck  with  the 
ease  of  their  life.  The  old  coachman  of  ]\Irs.  Le  Grand,  Uncle 
Billy,  now  aged  84,  is  really  a  handsome  old  man.  I  have  earn- 
estly laboured  with  him  among  the  flowers,  which  he  is  gently 
tilling ;  and  have  read  and  preached  to  him — for  he  is  still  an 
unbelievin<T  old  creature.  I  have  felt  bound  to  seize  everv  occa- 
sion  to  exhort  these  servants,  in  consequence  of  the  weight  which 
the  words  derive  from  mv  former  residence  here.  Some  of 
them  seem  to  me  as  good  and  as  experienced  Christians  as  any 
white  people  of  the  labouring  class.  There  is  plainly  an  impor- 
tant increase  everywhere  in  labours  for  their  instruction  and 
conversion.  The  political  rage  about  Know  Nothingism  is  such 
as  could  hardly  be  "  realized "  in  the  North.  The  high  prices 
of  wheat  give  great  internal  prosperity  to  planters.  I  found  at 
the  University  of  Virginia  a  signal  change.  Almost  all  the  pro- 
fessors pious  :  large  voluntary  assemblies  of  students  ;  one  hun- 
dred attending  Sunday  prayer-meeting,  and  a  goodly  number  daily 
morning  ditto.  Cabell  is  most  instructive  and  striking  on  all  the 
questions  of  ethnolog}^,  races  of  men,  &c.  He  dissents  totally 
from  Agassiz,  and  agrees  with  ^faur}^,  Hewes,  and  Bache.^  He 
showed  me  some  stupendous  microscopic  things  concerning  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  &c. 

217  Fifth  Avenue,  Xew  York,  June  13,  1855." 
Our  organ  is  to  be  put  behind  the  pulpit,  and  the  choir  re- 
duced to  one  or  more  male  voices  beside  the  pulpit,  thus  giving 
us  seventy-five  sittings  aloft.  Nothing  tends  to  reconcile  me  any 
more  to  pew-property.  If  Papists  did  not  folsif\-  their  theory  by 
their  practice,  their  method  of  free  churches  would  be  noble. 
Then  one  could  be  complacent  in  a  costly  church,  if  thereby  "  the 
brother  of  low  degree  "  (James  i.)  '•  is  exalted."  The  sustentation 
of  the  preacher  is  as  clear  as  the  gospel-message  itself,  but  the 
rich  should  pay  so  as  to  lighten  the  burden  of  the  poor.  I  have 
long  been  an  admirer  of  some  things  in  Madame  Guy  on.     Up- 

^  In  1859  was  published  the  first  edition  of  Dr.  Cabell's  "  Testimony  of 
Modern  Science  to  the  Unity  of  Mankind ; "  with  an  Introductory  Notice 
by  Dr.  Alexander. 

-  In  the  absence  of  his  family  in  Virginia  he  was  dwelling  with  Mr. 
Thomas  U.  Smith,  one  of  the  elders  of  his  church. 


1851— 1857.  209 

liam^  makes  her  far  better  than  she  was,  and  has  left  out  a  thou 
sand  of  her  gross  blandishments  and  nursery  endearments.  1 
think  the  best  thing  in  the  book  is  the  annihilation  of  her  theory 
by  Bossuet.  Fenelon,  though  her  pupil,  has  wonderfully  exalted 
and  spiritualized  her  system,  in  the  "  Maximes,"  and  "  Lettres 
Spirituelles."  But  it  is  all  given  better  in  Kempis.  I  have  not 
read  (since  Gil  Bias)  a  merrier  narrative  than  ]\Ions.  Hue's 
Travels  through  China.  Quere.  Suppose  every  Popish  priest 
now  extant  were  a  true  spiritual  Christian,  how  far  w^ould  the 
existing  machine  of  hierarchy  (influence  and  all)  be  compatible 
with  true  churchship  1  Item.  In  such  case,  might  not  certain 
conceivable  reforms  be  expected,  such  as  should  place  the  Catho- 
lic body  short  of  damnation  1  A  ship-load  of  immigrant  Mor- 
mons, seven  hundred  souls.  Hardly  any  were  Papists ;  most 
from  England.  If  the  Eutaxian  Liturgy^  come  into  actuality,  the 
only  result  will  be  to  train  people  for  the  "  Common  Prayer." 
If  I  must  pray  other  people's  prayers,  I  prefer  the  venerable 
grace  of  Anglicanism  to  any  thing  A,  B,  and  C  will  concoct. 

Adams's  steeple  is  going  to  be  the  great  ornament  of  up-town 
New  York  ;  I  see  it  while  I  write,  slowly  growing,  day  by  day, 
above  the  houses  in  Twenty-sixth  street,  over  which  I  look 
southward.  The  church  will  stand  them  in  not  less  than 
$160,000.  Even  St.  John's  Church,  as  Dr.  Berrian  tells  me,  is 
nearly  deserted  of  worshippers  ;  though,  when  he  was  at  its  con- 
secration, it  was  thought  in  the  suburbs.     Mrs.  C and  my 

brood  will  make  for  the  Eed  Sweet  Springs,^  near  the  Sweet 
Springs,  Alleghany  County,  about  16th  prox.  The  Board  man 
and  Thornwell  debate  [on  Church  Extension]  was  of  that  digni- 
fied sort,  that  we  have  latterly  missed  in  our  Assembly  ;  I  wished 
for  a  fuller  report.  I  am  now  about  five  or  six  lectures  deep  in 
the  Acts.  I  also  have  a  Bible-class  on  Romans.  Strawberries, 
though  slow,  are  as  fine  as  I  ever  saw.  This  year  will  be 
memorable  among  cits  for  its  incomparable  weather  in  May  and 
early  June.  I  had  made  all  preparations  for  a  reduced  $1  25 
edition  of  the  Life  of  my  father,  leaving  out  nothing  material, 
when  Trow's  printing-house  was  burnt.  Though  I  am  thankful 
to  say  our  plates  in  the  vault  escaped,  all  the  paper  for  this  new 

^  "  Life,  Religious  Opinions,  and  Experience  of  Madame  de  la  Mothe 
Guyon.     By  Thomas  C.  Upliam."     1847. 

^  "  Eutaxia  ;  or,  the  Presbyterian  Liturgies  :  Historical  Sketches.  By  a 
Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  New  York :  1855.  This  was  fol- 
lowed in  1859  by  "A  Book  of  Public  Prayer,  compiled  from  the  authorized 
formularies  of  worship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  prepared  by  the  Re- 
formers Calvin,  Knox,  Bucer,  and  others.     With  supplementary  forms," 

^  The  first  mention  of  the  spot  in  Virginia,  where  the  writer  closed 
his  earthly  course. 


210  AVHILE   PASTOK   OF   FIFTII   AVENUE   CHrECH. 

imjorcssion  was  consumed.^  It  has  been  a  great  disappointment  to 
us  that  ^Ir.  E.  T.  Williams,  who  had  come  on  as  preacher  in  our 
Mission-chapel,  was  forced  to  go  instantly  away,  on  account  of 
his  wife's  ill-health.  Father  Otterson  is  preaching  temporarily, 
but  there  is  no  flock  as  yet ;  our  chief  hope  is  from  the  school. 

Red  Sweet  Springs,  Alleghany  } 
Co.,  Virginia,  Jult/  28,  1855.    ) 

The  drive  to  the  "Warm  Springs,  though  short  by  measure- 
ment, was,  I  think,  the  severest  I  ever  took.  We  got  in  about 
half-past  nine.  The  place  is  delightful.  A  former  tasteful  own- 
er has  done  much  landscape  gardening.  The  view  from  top  of 
the  Warm  Spring  Mountain  is  worth  going  a  hundred  miles  to 
see.  The  servants  are  the  best  I  know,  having  that  oriental 
deference  and  tact  which  belong  to  old  flimily  menials.  We 
rested  a  day.  Twelve  passengers  on  the  coach  on  Thursday. 
The  squeeze  was  annoying,  but  the  road  pleasant.  In  crossing 
the  Alleghany  we  encountered  two  thunder-storms,  and  rode  four 
hours  in  heavy  rain.  I  omitted  that  we  found  no  chance  direct 
to  this  place,  and  so  had  to  come  via  W^hite  Sulphur.  At  Cal- 
laghan's,  where  we  dined,  two  deer  had  been  brought  in  ;  man 
says  sometimes  five  in  a  day  :  six  cents  a  pound.  At  a  water- 
ing-house, two  rattlesnakes  had  been  slain  during  the  day.  I 
recognized  the  import  of  the  moment,  when,  after  an  easy  ascent, 
I  found  the  waters  tending  towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Lodged 
wretchedly  at  the  noblest  place  I  ever  saw,  the  W^hite  Sulphur 
Springs.  No  reporter  had  prepared  me  for  such  Eden-like  varie- 
ty of  lawn  and  landscape,  within  the  proper  bounds,  such  ex- 
panse, and  such  a  town  of  rural  cots,  &c.  Next  morning  up  at 
four.  Course  south-east.  Except  about  four  miles  of  the  six- 
teen, the  drive  was  transcendently  beautiful.  We  recrossed  the 
Allei^hanv.  I  think  our  whole  road  was  along  the  bedside  of 
two  foaming,  tumbling,  roaring  little  rivers,  vp  one,  and  clown 
the  other,  with  a  slight  hiatus  on  the  water-shed.  The  second 
was  Dunlap's  Creek.  Compared  with  the  country  around  the  Rock 
Alum,  [Rockbridge  County,]  this  region  is  noted  for  immense 
timber,  cascades,  and  torrents,  rapid  changes  of  hill  and  vale,  and 
exuberant  productive  power  in  every  vegetable  way.  We  broke 
fast  ten  miles  from  the  Warm  Spring,  at  Col.  Crow's,  on  the 
side  of  Dunlap's  Creek,  which  we  crossed  many  times  ;  and  just 
under  the  broad  shadow  of  the  Sweet  Spring  Mountain.  Good 
breakflist  and  fine  venison.  The  colonel  is  a  jovial  Boniface,  full 
of  hunting-stories  ;  and  this  is  a  famous  place  for  deer-shooting. 

^  The  smaller  copy  was  afterwards  published. 


1851—1857.  211 

Here  about  nine.  The  place  =  1,700  acres.  The  capabilities 
for  landscape  improvement  are  unlimited.  I  look  straight  over 
a  broad  green  lawn  ten  times  as  big  as  yours/  and  up  a  hillside 
to  a  knoll  beautifully  crested  by  trees  and  grazed  over  by  both 
herd  and  flock.  The  Springs  are  in  a  dark  glen,  with  rustic 
seats,  two  fine  natural  cascades,  and  a  grove  of  irregular  ancient 
trees  ;  a  spot  for  nymphs.  The  bath  is  (say)  40  X  20  feet,  and 
deep  enough  for  swimming.  At  the  Warm"^  Spring  the  bath  is 
98°,  and  38  feet  diameter.  The  "  Sweet  Springs  "  are  a  mile 
from  us.  The  Cabell  party  are  here,  and  the  calm  retirement  is 
very  taking. 

About  sixty  here,  and  about  seventy  at  the  Sweet.     They 
have  four  hundred  and  fifty  at  the  White  Sulphur. 

Red  Sweet,  August  6,  1855. 
Our  company  is  yet  small,  but  we  shall  be  overflowed  when 
the  "White"  is  empty.  Our  number  about  seventy-five. 
Table  good,  though  not  sumptuous  as  at  the  Old  Sweet.  We 
have  printed  bill  of  flire,  entrees  of  French  cookery,  always 
soup,  &c.  Absence  of  drinks  striking.  We  have"  a  Polish 
count,  two  Episcopal  ministers,  and  one  Methodist.  The  walks 
and  drives  around  here  in  every  direction  are  delightful.  We  go 
almost  daily  to  the  Sweet.  Can  walk  to  a  cascade  of  forty  to 
sixty  feet.  Frequently  ascend  neighbouring  mountains.  Dr. 
Cabell  is  daily  pushing  his  microscopical  observations  which 
brings  me  some  entertainment.  The  swimming  here  is  worth  all 
the  journey.     The  tepid  chalybeate  is  mawkish  enough. 

Eed  Sweet,  August  11,  1855. 
The  disheartening  dampness  continues.  Our  number  is  two 
hundred,  and  many  are  daily  rejected.  Rooms  for  some  fifty  to 
eighty  are  finishing.  I  just  saw  a  deer  brought  in  of  a  hundred 
and  nineteen  pounds  ;  yesterday  one  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  pounds.  The  Sweet  Springs  have  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  fashion  chiefly  there.  Here  we  have  a  hop  every  night. 
Rev.  Castleman  was  upset  near  Bell's,  on  way  here.  Next  day 
he  drove  from  three  A.  M.  till  daylight,  because  the  driver  could 
not  keep  awake  five  minutes  at  a  time.  I  weary  of  the  mode  of 
life. 

Red  Sweet  Springs,  August  14,  1855. 
If  this  crosses  yours,  please  make  all  right  by  considering 
yourself  as  the  debtor.     Though  we  have  rain  daily,  there  is 

The  Rockbridge  Alum  Springs,  where  the  two  correspondents  had  met 
the  week  before.  We  continued  at  different  Springs  during  the  time  indi- 
cated by  the  Virginia  dates. 


212  WHILE   PASTOK   OF   FIFTn   AYEXTE   CHTECH. 

more  dry  air.  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  our  indispositions 
abate.  Mrs.  T.  of  Baltimore,  the  E.  K.  of  my  youthful  days, 
is  here -svith  her  husband.  I  last  spoke  with  her  inlS26;  she 
is  now  a  grandmother.  Judge  Potts  [of  Trenton]  is  at  the 
Sweet.  He  is  thin  as  ever,  but  seems  very  fresh,  alert,  and 
well,  and  is  an  addition  to  our  society.  We  have  Edward 
Ruffin,  the  celebrated  agricultural  philosopher  of  Virginia.  I 
preached  here  and  also  at  the  Sweet  Springs  on  Sunday  ;  here  I 
had  a  large  assembly.  Our  small  evangelical  library  of  books 
and  tracts  is  in  free  circulation  ;  and  religious  talk  is  easier  here 
than  with  us ;  while  religious  people  allow  themselves  more 
liberties.  The  over-dressing  and  over-jewelling  of  the  women 
are  indescribable.  Have  they  not  mistaken  the  caricatures  in 
Harper  for  the  fashion-plates  1  Great  numbers  here  from  the 
lower  Mississippi.  One  Methodist,  who  sustains  "  a  supernu- 
merary relation/'  and  one  Episcopal  schoolmaster  in  orders,  con- 
stitute, with  thy  servant,  the  chaplaincy.  John  Van  Buren  is  at 
the  White.  Dysentery  of  a  fatal  type  prevails  among  the  moun- 
taineers. In  one  house,  a  mile  off,  three  deaths  have  occurred. 
Henry  saw  five  deer  on  the  12th.  The  Red  Sweet  water  is 
doing  wonders  with  some  cases  of  chronic  diarrhoea.  A.  A. 
Hodge  goes  to  Eredericksburg  vice  McPhaill. 


Eed  Sweet,  August  21,  1855. 

Yours  of  15th  is  "  to  hand  ;  "  I  was  not  "  to  home  "  when  it 
came,  but  no  further  off. than  the  Old  Sweet,  where  I  go  daily 
and  sometimes  twice.  Tliis  morning  I  called  on  Wm.  Collins, 
of  Baltimore,  a  classmate  in  college,  now  a  lawyer  in  Mary- 
land, and  son-in-law  of  Gov.  Jas.  Barbour.  Kirk,  another  class- 
mate, is   there.     He   preached    a   powerful    sermon   here   last 

Sundav.     The   most  interestino-  converser  here,  is  .     His 

knowledge  and  diction  are  extraordinary.  Ultra  States-rights- 
man.  He  says  of  Dr.  x\dams,  ("  South  Side  "  :)  "  After  reason- 
ing from  certain  exceptional  cases,  to  show  that  slave-holders  live 
for  nothing  but  to  make  their  slaves  happy — an  absurd  assertion 
— and  after  making  slavery  to  be  a  most  happy  condition,  he 
avows  his  wish  gradually  to  put  an  end  to  this  state  of  felicity." 
Cabell  perseveres  in  regular  morning  lectures  on  Natural  Philo- 
sophy and  Natural  History.     We  have  about  400  at  each  Spring. 

Thompson,  of  the  Independent,  writing  from  Maine,  says,  (in 
substance,)  "  Though  Southerners  hate  the  Yankees,  yet  they  will 
every  3'car  come  among  them,  so  long  as  the  North  has  the 
monopoly  of  mountains,  sjyrinffs,  &C."  ]\Iulattoes  decrease  in 
Virginia.     The  air  is  now  dry,  but  cold ;  almost  every  one  has 


1S51— 1S5T.  213 

fires.     I  have  at  no  moment  been  so  well  as  my  average  in  New 
York  ;   rheumatism  and  headache  pursue  me. 

Bed  Sweet  Springs,  August  2-i,  1855. 

Yours  of  ISth  to-day,  simid  with  one  from  Princeton,  of 
20th.  When  the  mails  do  so,  it  is  best  not  to  delay  exchange  of 
notes  for  the  usual  diplomatic  period.  LittcH's  Nos.  586  and 
587,  ["  Living  Age  "]  are  great ;  but  why  does  our  old  friend 
grudge  the  price  of  all  proof-reading  1  Your  proximity  to  the  Hot 
and  Warm  will  make  the  Lukewarm  ["  Healing  Springs  "]  very 
much  livelier  than  the  Cold,  [Alum.]  Our  number  is  about  280. 
The  weather,  for  a  few  days,  has  been  warm  and  agreeable. 
Several  cases  of  illness  in  the  neighbourhood.  It  is  a  copious 
hemorrhage  of  the  bowels,  and  intractable.  The  indigenous 
women  and  children  in  these  wet  valleys,  look  tallowy  and 
anemic.  The  fewness  of  Northerners  is  remarkable.  My  read- 
ing has  from  necessity  been  in  Cabell's  books  ;  so  I  have  learnt 
some  Comparative  Anatomy,  and  Zoology. 

Mrs.  A.  feels  very  "  poly,"  (such  is  the  expression.)  and 
William  is  still  '•  delicate."  You  have  probably  learnt  that 
"  trifling  "  means  '•'  worthless."  We  have  a  very  "  respectable 
crowd "  at  these  Springs.  Mrs.  C.  is  "  mighty  weak,"  but  is 
"  fattening."  Willy  talks  of  a  sig-yah  (segar)  and  of  "  waw- 
tah."  If  "it  comes  at  all  in  your  way  to  visit  Lexington,  do  not 
hesitate  an  instant  to  go  with  your  folks  to  R.'s,  and  stay  as  long 
as  you  choose.  The  truth  is,  "  comfort,"  in  Virginia,  is  not  at 
public,  but  private  houses  ;  the  case  being  reversed  in  Northern 
cities. 

Eed  Sweet  Springs,  September  1,  1855. 
What  you  say  is  certainly  just ;  your  path  of  duty  is  very 
clearly  marked  out,  and  you  are  left  in  the  best  hands  ;  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  14.  Whatever  thoughts  may  supervene  about  your  con- 
gregation, you  are  obviously  in  your  right  place;  and  if  any 
censorious  'saints  should  class  you  among  absentee  "  city-min- 
isters," you  will   feel   inwardly  right   before   God,   1    Cor.  iv. 

3, 4.  .  . 

Your  Jews  are  probably  negro-traders.  That  business  m 
Virginia  has  fallen  almost  entirely  into  the  hands  of  the  Circum- 
cision, and  Mr.  G.  tells  me  they  have  greatly  humanized  it ;  so 
that  where  negroes  have  to  be  sold,  they  prefer  it  should  be  to 
the  Hebrews. 

We  are  very  full — the  running  over  of  the  White  Sulphur. 
No  Philadelphians,  or  New  Yorkers,  and  but  half  a  dozen  North- 
erners.    I  shall  wait  till  the  11th,  when  we  can  fill  a  coach  for 


214:  WHILE   rASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AYENUE   CHTECH. 

Lexington,  making  stops.  I  am  advised  we  cannot  possibly  have 
entry  1o  our  church  before  October  1,  as  the  carpenters  have  us 
on  the  hip.  Our  house,  30  West  18th  Street,  is  pretty  much 
(or  Yankice  "  about ")  done.  Peaches  in  New  York  are  late  and 
unpromising ;  in  lower  Virginia  fine  and  abundant ;  here  none. 
Delightful  Indian  plums  of  three  varieties,  are  in  our  woods 
here,°  and  probably  in  yours,  [Bath  County.]  I  occasionally 
overhear  some  hellish  cursing  and  swearing,  horribly  sticking  in 
my  memory  from  its  perverse  ingenuity;  it  is  from  certain 
sporting  gentry. 

Xew  York,  October  2,  1855. 

We  arrived  at  Princeton  on  Thursday.  Our  journey  was 
without  "  evil  occurrent."  On  return,  I  find  my  flock  still  un- 
gathered,  and  church  still  incomplete.  For  the  twelve  new 
pews,  for  60  persons,  we  have  twice  that  number  of  applicants. 
We  preached  in  our  Chapel  of  Ease,  which  was  full,  but  mostly 
of  strangers.  No  death,  but  of  an  infant,  has  taken  place  in  my 
proper  flock. 

The  renewed  bustle  of  moving  awaits  us  ;  but  we  are  thank- 
ful for  a  new,  convenient,  and  clean  house.  We  cannot  have  full 
delivery  of  the  same  much  before  the  15th. 

To-day  Mr.  Smith  took  us  to  our  new  house,  No.  30  West 
18th  St. ;  where  we  had  the  surprise  of  finding  the  chief  trouble 
of  removing  removed,  by  the  downputting  of  new  carpets,  and 
the  inputting  of  furniture  and  books.  Yesterday  we  entered 
again  our  remodelled  church.  My  feelings  are  complex  in 
regard  to  it.  Some  things  are  beyond  my  hopes  :  1,  the  acousti- 
cal trouble  seems  thoroughly  cured :  I  could  not  wish  it  better 
for  speaking  and  hearing ;  2,  the  lowering  of  the  west  gallery 
is  altogether  pleasing  ;  3,  the  singing  led  by  a  precentor,  and  no 
consolidated  choir  or  band,  pleases  me ;  the  people  joined  heartily. 
On  the  other  hand,  my  pride  suffers  at  being  made,  with  my 
pulpit,  sermon,  &c.,  a  mere  appendage  to  a  great  big  organ.  A 
savage,  on  entering,  would  certainly  take  the  instrument  for  the 
divinity  of  the  shrine.  My  head  spins  with  the  numerous  con- 
flicting businesses  now  competing  for  notice.  I  have  an  edition 
of  Memoir  (abridged)  to  oversee,  a  book  to  finish,  a  preface  to 
write,  a  Presbytery  to  attend,  two  sermons  to  prepare,  a  house 
to  fit  and  inhabit,  a  boy  to  school,  "  help  "  to  hire,  &c. 

New  York,  Odoher  26,  1855. 
I   am   expecting,  besides    my   own   service,  to   preach   for 
Dr.   T.'s  folks,  after  their  communion.     He  is  a  much  more 
earnest  man  than  most  of  us,  breathing  some  of  the  good  Free 


1851—1857.  215 

Church  spirit,  as  I  observed  it  in  Scotland.  He  tells  me  that 
a  number  of  families  of  his  charge  have  it  for  a  custom,  before 
leaving  home  for  church,  to  unite  in  prayer  for  a  blessing  on  the 
Word  which  they  expect  to  hear. 

Bible  instances  show  us  that  God  is  concerned  in  our  private 
sorrows.  The  Psalms  especially  appear  more  divine  to  me  every 
day.  What  a  body  -of  experience  !  How  they  have  formed  the 
character  and  devotions  of  the  Church  !  How  remarkable,  to 
have  issued  from  such  a  land  and  age  ! 

In  regard  to  the  future  state,  continual,  earnest,  and  I  believe 
reverent  reading  of  God's  Word,  has  produced  in  me  some  per- 
suasions and  hopes,  which  I  should  not  like  to  be  called  on  to 
prove  in  mood  and  figure.  It  is  my  belief,  that  many  things  arc 
made  true  to  us,  and  from  Scripture  too,  for  which  we  cannot  cite 
a  particular  proof-text.  The  general  result  is,  that  I  look  on  the 
world  of  disembodied  saints  as  nearer  to  us  than  is  usually  held, 
and  on  the  future  glory  as  less  unlike  the  good  things  of  the 
militant  church,  than  many  teach.  Holiness  here  is  found  not  in 
abstractions,  but  in  the  concrete  feelings,  words,  and  acts  of  human 
creatures.  Some  good  people  talk  of  holiness  in  heaven,  as  if 
they  must  secure  it  from  carnality  by  making  it  vague,  dreamy, 
and  metaphysical.  Though  "  equal  to  angels,"  Luke  xx.  36,  the 
blessed  are  not  dehumanized.  All  New  Testament  allusions 
show  them  as  ours  still. 

The  anxiety  I  feel  for  my  children,  oppresses  me  at  times 
very  much.  It  is  hardly  at  all  about  their  temporal  advance- 
ment— even  their  learning ;  but  I  am  deeply  solicitous  that  they 
should  be  truly  religious,  and  more  painfidly  alive  to  their  perils 
in  this  respect  than  once  I  was. 

We  are  hardly  yet  arranged  in  our  habitation.  It  is  emi- 
nently commodious,  clean,  and  spacious.  Church  continues  sur- 
prisingly full ;  with  very  little  token  of  awakening.  I  fear  I 
entertain  rather  than  impress  my  hearers  ;  this  has  long  been  a 
sore  place  within  me.  Yet  when  sometimes  I  have  for  a  little 
attempted  the  pungent  method,  it  has  been  Saul's  armour  to  me, 
and  I  have  been  fain  to  come  back  to  my  natural  way. 

New  York,  November  12,  1S55. 
Yesterday  was  Communion.  One  on  examination,  and  twelve 
on  certificate.  Dr.  Duff's  speech,  [Scotch  General  Assembly,] 
though  abundantly  self-exhibitory,  has  some  daring  flights  of  old- 
fashioned  eloquence,  such  as  our  fastidious,  carping  age  and  people 
do  not  willino^ly  hear.  Th.  Dwiijht  translated  a  book  on  New 
Grenada,  by  Gen.  Mosquera,  late  President  thereof,  who  now 
lives  with  his  son  Gen.  Heran,  just  back  of  us.     It  is  instructive, 


216  WHILE  PASTOK  OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHUECH. 

and  gives  one  a  new  view  of  the  capabilities  of  that  wonderful 
country  of  mountains  and  ^;a?'«7?i05,  a  word  which  means  high, 
cold,  uninhabitable  j^lateaux.  The  way  is  perfectly  open  at  Car- 
thagena  for  the  gospel.  I  know  no  experience  which  has  grown 
on  me  more,  within  a  few  years,  than  the  impression  of  nearness 
of  the  other  world.  I  have  not  a  corresponding  temper ;  but  I 
certainly  realize  this  as  never  before.  Concerning  the  future,  I 
do  not  see  things  so  distinctly  and  definitely  as  some ;  for  exam- 
ple, Baxter,  in  the  "  Saints'  Rest."  Howe's  "  Blessedness  of 
the  Righteous,"  comes  nearer  my  views.  But  my  persuasions 
of  this  seem  natural,  rather  than  religious.  They  do  often,  how- 
ever, furnish  me  a  motive.  Poor  unlettered  saints  (I  am  now 
caring  for  one  on  his  death-bed)  unquestionably  have  more  com- 
fort of  their  fjiith  than  we.  Books,  disquisition,  analysis,  habits 
of  objection,  looking  at  difficulties,  hearkening  to  latitudinary 
talk,  all  tend  to  break  the  charm  of  childlike  faith.  Would  we 
were  more  like  children  ! 

New  York,  November  14,  1855. 

If  univocality  were  all,  we  have,  I  think,  fully  attained  the 
end  of  making  our  people  sing.  I  have  never  heard  a  louder 
chorus  out  of  a  German  church.  As  to  melody  and  harmony, 
your  deponent  saith  not. 

How  gravely  things  look  in  our  families,  when  we  project 
our  thoughts  into  the  future  !  My  yearnings  about  my  house- 
hold are  sometimes  very  affecting.  "  The  fondness  of  a  creature's 
love,"  &c.  To  have  these  affections  sanctified  is  greatly  desir- 
able, but  how  little  realized  !  Some  parents  seem  to  be  cheered 
with  a  continual  confidence  in  regard  to  the  salvation  of  their 
oflspring  ;  and  I  own  this  comes  over  me  too,  in  my  best  hours. 
Happy,  happy  are  they  who  are  safely  landed  on  Canaan's  shore. 
Some  of  the  most  serious  reflections  I  ever  have,  are  connected 
with  the  lapse  of  time  and  nearness  of  eternity,  as  viewed  along 
with  my  small  attainments  hitherto ;  especially  with  the  thought 
that  these  are  not  likely  to  be  greater.  I  am  deeply  sensible 
that  these  and  the  like  thoughts  give  a  sombre  cast  to  my  man- 
ner, of  late,  which  is  by  no  means  fitted  to  make  religion  attrac- 
tive. The  normal  or  ideal  sort  of  Christianity  would  be  beauti- 
fully cheerful.  Mr.  Williams,  our  mission-chaplain,  returns  to 
Africa  in  the  spring.  Poor  Dr.  Hare's  lecture  had  a  craziness  be- 
yond what  the  reporters  give,  in  the  perfectly  bedlam  character  of 
the  costly  apparatus  which  he  exhibited.^  I  have  been  part  of  the 
day  with  a  dying  woman,  who  has  neglected  religion,  and  is  in 

^  The  late  Dr.  Robert  Hare,  of  Philadelpbia,  had  lectured  on  "  Spiritual- 
ism," with  mechanical  illustrations. 


1851— 18oL  217. 

terror  of  death.     Such  cases  (I  mean  the  terror)  are  less  common' 
than  1  expected  to  meet  when  I  began  my  mmistrj. 

The  military  were  out  in  force  to-day;  a  beautiful  sight. 
But  all  the  trappings  do  not  hide  the  bloodiness  of  War.  How 
loose  and  perfunctory  are  the  notices  of  books  in  the  religious 
papers  !  I  have  often  remarked  it.  E.  g.  Whately  is  com- 
mended, without  a  hint  of  his  rationalism  about  Inspiration, 
Future  Punishment,  &c. ;  while  a  breath  against  limited  Atone- 
ment or  Imputation  would  bring  down  their  wrath.  I.  heard 
Milburn,  the  blind  preacher,  at  a  Bible  Society  to-night.  His 
voice  and  manner    are  very  lovely,  and  sometimes  "Summer- 

fieldian.     He  is  also  a  genius  ;  but  like  all  the  crack of  the' 

Youug  America,  is  over-learned — full  of  Bacon,  Des  Cartes,  Frede- 
rick Strauss,  Auguste  Comte,  eesthetics,  &c.,  &c.  A.  also  made 
a  fine  address  in"  his  way.  More  than  any  man  but  Todd,  and 
in  a  better  way,  his  mind  strings  innumerable  fine  stories,  phrases, 
allusions,  and  verses  altogether  ;  and  he  sacrifices  every  thing  to 
the  entertainment  and  arrest  of  the  hearer's  mind.  His  manner, 
too,  is  good,  and  he  has  much  pathos.  But  you  carry  away  no 
one  deep  impression,  as  from  Chalmers,  Edwards,  or  Nettleton. 
Love  to  all  yours,  whom  we  remember  in  prayers. 

New  York,  December  25,  1855. 

We  dined  to-day  on  a  white-fish  from  ^lichilimacinac.  Dr. 
Muhlenberg  always  has  a  Christmas-tree  for  his  charity-children 
at  his  church.  We  had,  notwithstanding  the  rain,  350  urchins 
and  urchinesses  at  our  cake-and-candy  fete  at  the  Mission  Chapel.. 
Our  two  Industrial  schools  promise  well.  The  lower  one,  at. 
Duane  Street,  (where  we  also  have  mission-preaching,)  already 
numbers  200.  We  talk  of  going  in  largely  toward  the  purchase 
of  a  buildinoj  for  a  coloured  cono;regation. 

Every  day  sickens  me  more  and  more  with  Congress.  Just 
consider  what  sort  of  work  they  carry  on  under  the  pretence  of 
voting  for  Speaker ;  the  debates  running  on  matters  of,  mere 
party-name,  such  as  did  not  use  to  be  mentioned.^  I  am  fully, 
persuaded,  that  if  all  parties  would  be  patient,  would  drop  the 
naked  question  of  slavery,  and  would  bend  all  powers  towards 
abating  the  abuses  of  slavery,  it  would  result  in  the  speedy 
emancipation  of  all  who  should  be  fit  to  enjoy  freedom.  In 
this  way  history  shows  us  that  slavery  has  heretofore  ceased 
and  determined.  Hush  the  angry  quarrels,  and  appease  the 
natural  pride  of  slave-holders,  and  thousands  among  them  would 

^  This    scene  was   re-exhibited  in  the   House  of  Representatives  of 
1859-'60. 

VOL.  II. — 10 


218  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHUECH. 

go  even  for  legislative  reform,  in  the  matters  of  marriage, 
property,  separation  of  households,  reading  the  Bible,  and  so 
forth.  This,  I  think,  will  take  place  anyhow ;  but  in  a  less 
favourable  way,  so  long  as  Northern  violence  retards  the  meas 
ures.  Huidekoper,  of  Meadville,  sent  me  his  treatise  on  the 
Underworld,  or  Hades  of  the  Fathers.  He  proves  pretty  con- 
clusively that  the  "  descended  into  hell  "  of  the  Creed  originated 
after  the  unscriptural  fiction  of  an  underworld  arose  in  the 
church.  He  impugns  the  candour  of  Christians  who  now  try  to 
swallow  it,  with  other  meanings. 

For  the  coming  year  I  have  fixed  on  the  year-word,  "  God 
with  us."  This  method  of  year-motto  I  have  pursued  now  for 
about  fifteen  years,  with  much  comfort  to  my  own  heart,  and  I 
believe  to  others  ;  especially  as  I  have  preached  on  the  text 
whenever  I  had  a  congregation. 

New  York,  January  14,  1856. 

The  Eepertory  makes  me  say  "  apostacy,"  ^  which  I  wrote 
not ;  and  sundry  other  things.  Another  article  has  "  forceably." 
I  was  Qixgre  to  find  out  your  article  in  which  you  write  "  meagre  " 
for  "  meager."  A  divine  writes  to  me  about  "  schollar-ships," 
several  times  thus  spelt.  Unless  Providence  interpose  frequent 
frosts  our  formidable  force  of  snow-banks  will  furnish  a  fresh. 
Torrents  entered  our  Church  yesterday.  It  was  our  Communion. 
Dr.  Carrington,  just  from  Charlotte,  says  the  snow  is  dee]3er 
there.  The  lowest  mark  by  my  thermometer  was  — 5°.  Dr. 
Ewing's  plan  is  an  excellent  one,  I  wish  he  would  carry  it  out ; 
the  technical  name  for  such  a  word-book  is  a  "  glossary."  ^  You 
probably  had  Hall  forbears  in  the  Siege  of  Derry,  as  I  had 
Alexanders  and  Reids ;  so  you  will  read  third  Macaulay  with 
peculiar  zest.  In  parts,  the  new  portion  is  almost  a  Church  his- 
tory. I  am  deeply  convinced  that  a  majority  of  the  South  will 
one  day  come  to  the  point  of  mitigating  slavery  so  far  as  to  make 
it  a  sort  of  feudal  apprenticeship  ;  and  that  it  will  be  abolished. 
Every  year — even  in  the  face  of  Northern  rebuke — hundreds  of 
new  voices  are  raised  in  behalf  of  marriage,  integrity  of  families, 
and  license  to  read.  To  a  practical  mind  it  is  striking  that 
Abolitionism  has  abolished  no  slavery.  I  have  been  seldom 
more  provoked  [than  by  a  newspaper  notice  laudatory  of  the 

^  A  very  common  misprint.  His  articles  in  the  Repertory  for  1856  were : 
1.  Quesncl  and  the  Jansenists.  2.  Memoir  of  Dr.  John  M.  Mason.  3. 
"WaUlegrave  on  Millenaiianism. 

^  The  suggestion  of  our  friend,  which  he  did  not  live  to  undertake  him- 
self, was  a  vocabulary  of  the  English  Bible,  giving  the  changes  of  meaning 
that  have  taken  place  since  the  translation. 


1851— 185T.  219 

singing  in  his  churcli.]  Earnest  endeavour  on  my  part  to  make 
worship  supersede  music  is  disturbed  by  these  newsmakers. 
Amidst  much  that  is  mortifying  at  Washington,  there  is  some- 
thing favourable  to  observance  of  rule,  in  the  substantial  quiet 
of  so  many  weeks,  on  the  eve  of  a  great  national  C|uarrel.  From 
the  same  number  of  the  "  Clerical  Journal  "  come  the  follo^ving 
paragraphs  : 

"  Belif/ioKS  Libels.^'' 

"After  many  other  remarks,  the  speaker  says,  as  reported  in 
the  Bi'itish  Banner  :  '"''  If  I  were  a  Churchman,  furthermore,  I 
might  go  into  my  lyuVpit  every  Sunday  and  read  a  homily,  and  hy 
SO  doing  should  discharge  all  the  obligations  tvhich  I  took  upon 
me  by  my  ordination  vows.  But  you,  young  men,  who  go  forth 
from  this  college,  must  not  take  homilies  into  the  pulpit  nor 
other  people's  sermons,  but  you  must  take  your  own."  Now 
here  is  a  serious  charge,  conveyed  in  the  presence  of  a  miscel- 
laneous audience  and  of  young  men  about  to  be  trained  for  the 
ministry  among  Dissenters." 

MS.   SERMONS,   &c. 

T^IFTY  MS.  SERMONS,  Original,  Compiled,  and  Selected  ;  preached 

-*-  during  1S54-5  to  a  Country  Congregation.  Price  5/.  Address  "  Osoniexsis,"  Post- 
office,  Worcester. 

■]\|ANUSCRIPT  SERMONS,  either  for  purchase  or  temporary  use, 

■^■^    supplied  by  an  M.A.  in  Priest's  Orders,  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford. 
Apply  to  "E.  0.,"  4,  Brudenel-place,  New  North-road,  Iloxton. 

PAROCHIAL  SERIES,  Four  Original  Sermons  for  November,  8s. 

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ing, &c.,  2s.  &d.  each.     Prospectus  List  and  Specimen,  2s.  free. 

Hexey  F.  Gaywood,  C.  Moody,  257,  High  Ilolboru. 


IMPORTANT  SERMONS.— Church  Building,  Clergy  Orphan,  Na- 

-*-  tional  Society,  &c.,  &c.,  2s.  M.  each.     Six  Sermons  preparing  for  Advent,  Quarterly 
Series  as  usual.  Plain  Practical  Sermons.     Prospectus  and  Specimen,  Is. 

George  Eose,  93,  Amiens-street,  Dublin. 

EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  A  CLEEGYMAN. 

Fcap  4to.,  9f/.  each,  free  by  post, 

PAROCHIAL  (MS.)  SERMONS,  based  on  Discourses  by  BISHOP 

-^    BEVEEIDGE,  and  suitable  for  any  Congregation,  are  published  every  THUESDAY. 
First  Twenty-one  Sermons  now  readv.    Prospectus  gratis. 

Address,  "MSS.,"  Bath. 

Guthrie  ("  The  Gospel  in  Ezekiel ")  is  more  florid  than  Hamil- 
ton, but  also  more  evangelical.  His  figures  glow  as  much  as 
W.'s,  but  he  has  some  sense.  Macaulay  does  justice  to  George 
Fox  and  the  Quaker  Sham.  If  there  was  any  thing  left  to  attack, 
his  paragraphs  might  be  published  as  a  tract. 

We  are  about  to  lose  Mr.  Williams  from  our  missionchapel, 
(thus  Macaulay  prints  all  such  compounds,)  as  he  returns  to 


220  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHURCH. 

Africa.  He  has  done  us  good  service.  I  preached  there  on  a 
late  Sunday  evening.  Juvenile  hearers  are  for  the  most  numer- 
ous. Other  families  increasing,  but  only  where  they  have  been 
visited.  Besides  the  missionary,  we  have  an  Irish  Eeader  drum- 
ming up  hearers.  I  wish  I  could  find  such  a  Scotch — or  Irish- 
man, as  I  have  occasionally  met,  for  this  work.  There  are  men 
to  whom  it  would  be  delightful,  and  it  is  very  promising. 

Xew  York,  February  7,  1856. 
I  write  with  a  thumb  which  is  wounded  in  the  very  place 
where  the  pen  goes.  The  40th  day  of  sleighing  has  increase 
of  slipping  by  reason  of  rain  that  freezes  as  it  falls.  The  suffer- 
ings of  in-coming  ships  have  been  very  great.  One  known  to 
me,  has  been  off  our  Atlantic  coast  for  a  month.  Henry  B.  Pratt, 
of  the  Seminary,  from  Georgia,  is  here  preparing  to  go  to  New 
Granada;  .  I  hope  the  Gospel  will  go  into  Central  America,  at 
the  hole  made  by  the  filibusteros.  The  outlay  on  furs  this 
winter,  is  enough  to  remind  one  of  the  Koman  luxury  in  Gibbon 
and  Montesquieu — 12,000  for  a  sable  cape  is  frequently  given. 
The  white-and-yellow  furs  from  the  neck  of  sables,  for  carriages 
and  sleighs,  though  less  valuable  are  of  monstrous  price  from 
their  size.  The  prevalence  of  cold  at  the  South  is  unexampled. 
The  marked  decrease  of  emigration  to  our  port  has  been  evident 
in  the  less  pressing  necessities  of  the  poor  this  month,  as  com- 
pared with  the  corresponding  portion  of  last  year.  The  arrivals 
are  about  one-fourth  for  the  last  reported  week.  The  stream  of 
German "  emigration  is  showing  a  disposition  to  seek  Spanish 
America ;  this  is  true  especially  of  the  Catholic  part.  I  see  both 
Peru  and  Mexico  are  holding  out  special  inducements  to  Catholic 
German  settlers ;  and  as  in  both  countries  this  is  synchronous 
with  renewed  struggles  of  the  clergy  for  political  power,  it  looks 
somewhat  like  a  concerted  scheme  to  forestall  the  protestantizing 
of  the  South.  Lieut.  Gilliss,  of  the  U.  S.  Astronomical  Survey, 
after  several  years  in  Chile,  (so  he  writes  it,)  gives  the  worst 
account  of  popish  misrule  I  ever  saw.  The^:>eo«5  (which  by  an 
Americanism  means  hirelings)  are  very  far  below  Southern 
slaves.  He  declares  flatly,  that  most  of  the  births  are  illegiti- 
mate and  a  frightful  proportion  incestuous. 

•  In .  your  life  of  Washington  Irving,  mention  that  he  is  a 
homoeopathist,  and  that  he  still  rides  young  horses.  He  is  very 
smart  and  kidglovish,  but  with  a  sunken  manner  and  anile  voice. 
I  have  never  known  any  one  who  came  to  the  truth  so  regularly 
as  old  ]\fr.  C,  just  deceased.  He  was  a  highly  educated  man, 
both  in  America  and  Europe,  and  Jefferson's  ami  2)rochain.  He 
said :  "  I  was  a  victim  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  infidelity."     Many  years 


1851—1857.  221 

ago,  he  attacked  the  subject  by  regular  approaches— readmg  all 
the  works  which  are  famous  on  the  Evidences.  It  was*  his 
method  in  other  things.  He  would  talk  with  every  one  on  these 
points,  just  as  on  the  Tariff,  &c.  He  satisfied  himself  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  books.  He  went  as  deliberately  about  the 
question  of  Inspiration,  with  like  results.  He  cautiously  went 
through  all  the  doctrines,  and  settled  on  what  we  maintain  as 
evangelical.  Thus  far  was  headwork.  But  Grace  was  carrying  on 
heartwork  also ;  and  on  his  dying-bed  he  recounted  all  this,  and 
miich  more,  as  the  process  of  years,  and  partook  of  the  sacrament 
with  clear  avowal,  good  confession,  and  a  most  edifying  joy. 

About  1824,  there  was  hardly  a  more  irreligious  family- 
connexion  anywhere  than  .     Now  the  religious  members 

amount  to  scores.  And  every  day  we  hear  of  the  work  going  on. 
Of  a  truth,  we  make  too  little  of  such  silent  ramification  of  the 
true  Vine. 

I  am  now  at  Acts  ix.  It  is  really  my  Bible-class,  though  I 
have  another,  so  called,  of  young  men.  My  heart  sickens  at  the 
prospect  of  war,'  and  for  what  1  For  ill-minded  party-men.  I 
have  no  fears  of  any  one's  dwelling  unduly  on  Christ  as  a  Saviour, 
and  know  none  who  have  the  fault  you  seem  to  apprehend.^  The 
other  extreme,  viz.,  propounding  him  chiefly  as  a  Master  and 
Lawgiver,  is  that  of  all  the  Ecks,  the  Blairs  and  Robertsons, 
and  Channings.  Every  orthodox  preacher  I  ever  heard,  gives 
prominence  to  Christ  as  Prophet  and  King. 

New  YoEK,  March  4,  1856. 
Yesterday  was  twenty-nine  years  since  my  dear  affectionate 
uncle  Rice  preached  my  ordination  sermon  from  Col.  iv.  17,  an 
admirable  text.^  The  only  articulate  words  after  he  Avas  carried 
away  were,  "  I  should  like  to  preach  again — but  the  will  of  the 
Lord  be  done  !  " 

^  Yesterday  Dr.  Nott,  set.  85,  married  a  couple  in  our  church. 
His  father  died  of  disease  at  62 ;  his  brother,  a  sedentary  minister 
of  Connecticut,  died  of  an  accident,  in  his  hundredth  year. 
Everett's  oration  is  the  great  event.  The  immense  assembly 
fondled   the   orator,   and   almost   chaired   as   well    as    cheered 

^  The  Central  American  question  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain. 

^  The  suggestion  referred  to  was  that  in  preaching,  Christ  is  not  held 
forth  in  his  Divine  authority  as  Lord,  in  due  proportion  with  his  gracious 
office  as  Saviour. 

^  ^^-  Benjamin  H.  Rice  was  attacked  with  paralysis  in  his  pulpit, 
(Hampden  Sydney,  Virginia,)  January  11,  1856,  and  died  on  the  24th  of 
February. 


222  WHILE   PASTOK   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHURCH. 

W.  Irving.  The  argument  was  that  Washington  was  great,  be- 
cause  he  was  good. 

The  streets  of  New  York  have  now  reached  a  degree  of  flood, 
ferment,  feculence,  filth,  and  fragrancy,  at  which  they  become 
curious  and  almost  sublime.  There  is  a  wall  of  block  ice-muck 
in  the  middle  of  Broadway,  from  three  to  six  feet  high,  for  a  mile ; 
and  this  after  more  than  $40,000  spent  on  that  single  object. 

I  agree  with  you  in  the  importance  of  varying  one's  position. 

Dr. had  decided  symptoms  of  stone  from  a  constant  use 

of  one  posture,  and  this  in  a  rocking-chair.  Et  sic  de  similihis. 
As  a  specimen  of  what  the  transcendentalists  call  the  Philos- 
ophy of  History,  one  of  them  lately  said  to  me :  "  Judaism  is 
the  divinest  fact  which  God  could  make  out  of  the  materials  he 
then  had."  Addison  is  printing  on  Acts.  Wiley  frequently  im- 
ports English  copies  of  his  large  Isaiah,  which  cannot  be 
"  gotten  "  here,  as  the  Southerners  still  say.  So  many  around 
me  are  mad  with  Gumming,  that  I  have  lately  been  examining 
his  prophetical  volumes,  four  or  five  in  number.  He  has  a  great 
charm  of  clear,  beautiful,  picturesque  language  ;  beyond  this,  he 

is  a  cross  of on ;  ^  superior  to  either,  but  as  conceited, 

as  shallow,  as  uncharitable,  and  as  one-sided.  Of  real  original 
proof — nothing.  As  to  prophecy,  he  merely  hashes  up  Elliott. 
His  interspersed  pious  addresses  are  good. 

New  York,  March  26,  1856. 

1  forgot  to  say  that  I  am  felling  into  the  very  same  tremolo 
which  you  detected  in  S.,  and  find  my  voice  materially  altered  in 
preaching.  The  religious  romance  of  early  Methodism  interests 
me  more  than  Macaulay,  and  I  think  John  Wesley's  English  better 
than  Swift's  or  Cobbett's.  I  remember  going  to  Dr.  Mayer's  to 
an  Easter  Communion,  with  my  father,  forty  odd  years  ago.^  On 
Maundy  Thursday  I  assisted  at  mass  at  St.  Ann's,  and  on  Good 
Friday  was  at  the  doors  of  three  chapels  ;  not  however  in  forma 
paiqoeris  ;  numbers  attended  to  that  function.  The  proceedings 
of  the  priest  with  his  acolytes  profanely  reminded  me  of  a 
juggler  and  his  aids. 

"  There  is  something  distressing  in  the  uniform  decay  and 
transitoriness  of  the  free  blacks.  The  few  exceptions  are  like 
feeble  exotics  reared  at  great  cost.  W.  himself  is  a  good 
man,  but  even  he  is  far  below  the  smallest  sort  of  village 
minister. 

^  Popular  Anti-Romanists. 

2  Dr.  Philip  P.  Mayer,  Pastor  of  St.  John's  Lutheran  Church,  Philadel- 
phia, commemorated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  pastorate,  October  5, 
1856.     He  died  in  1858. 


1851—1857.  223 

I  am  unfeigneclly  humbled,  tlioiigli  not  a  whit  sm-prisecl,  that 
people  are  not  converted  under  my  teaching ;  and  it  is  always 
flir  from  me  to  lay  the  blame  on  ''  the  church,"  and  scold  my 
communicants  for  the  default.  I  should  wonder  if  any  good 
number  should  ever  be  awakened  by  me;  and  as  a  personal 
matter,  own  with  abasement  that  I  accept  unfruitful  ministry  as 
an  intellio'ible  chastening  for  sin.     Let  me  add — none  of  these 

XT 

things  give  me  any  freedom  to  press  measures.  1  have  no 
doubt,  either  you  or  I  could  get  up  a  stir  in  one  week,  which 
w^ould  jfill  a  column  of  tabulated  statistics.  Ah  me  !  I  am  sadly 
and  increasingly  unfit  to  work  in  the  conventional  traces.  I 
utterly  reject  the  entire  pew-system — I  speak  of  cities — as  against 
the  spirit  of  Christianity.  But  all  my  opinions  are  held  too 
tremblingly  for  me. ever  to  be  a  reformer.  So  I  quietly  and 
sorrowfully  go  on  expounding  those  things  I  am  sure  about. 

New  York,  April  17,  1856. 
I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  you  hear  there  is  some  awakening 
among  my  people.  And  so  there  unquestionably  is — but  only 
in  one  corner.  The  "  Church,"  to  use  the  Yankee  phrase,  is  not 
awakened  at  all.  There  are,  all  since  I  last  wrote  to  you,  appear- 
ances of  converting  influence  in  about  seventeen  persons.  These 
have  all  been  gradually  led  on  for  months,  and  some  for  years. 
Except  where  they  are  in  the  same  households,  they  are  almost 
all  unknown  to  one  another.  I  have  not  had  any  inquiry- 
meeting.  Once  I  have  met  "  those  willing  to  be  guided  about 
seeking  their  salvation,"  (writing  down  this  form  of  notice,  and 
reading  it,)  and  thus  have  drawer  to  my  house  yesterday  more 
than  forty.  With  these  I  had  no  private  talk,  then,  but  ex- 
pounded a  Chapter.  I  am  troubled  as  to  whether  I  shall  repeat 
even  this.  I  have  no  additional  meeting,  as  yet,  and  have  not 
departed  from  my  routine  of  lectures  on  Acts.  It  is  a  remark- 
able coincidence,  that  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  w^as  almost  a 
Bochim,  and  from  beginning  to  end  exhibited  tenderness,  humility, 
and  affection  on  the  part  of  ministers.  I  am  dreading,  beyond 
expression,  the  rise  of  a  fanatical  breeze  among  my  church- 
members,  and  shall  humbly  endeavour  to  suppress  rather  than 
arouse  human  passions.  You  will  understand  me,  better  than 
anybody,  when  I  say,  I  will,  as  at  present  advised,  continue 
private  address,  but  use  no  precipitating  means.  I  even  depre- 
cate them.  And  so  I  feel  about  the  w^hole  affair.  The  w^ay  I  am 
taking  would  be  deemed  a  quenching  of  the  spirit  by  sundry  of 
my  brethren.  But  I  distrust  every  thing  in  revivalism,  which  is 
not  common  to  it  with  the  stated,  continued,  persistent  presenta- 
tion of  the  gospel. 


224:  WHILE   PASTOE   OF  FIFTH  AVENUE   CHUKCH. 

New  York,  April  23,  1856. 

1  have  nothing  to  change  my  opinion,  that  the  inquiry  among 
onr  people  is  lately  discovered,  but  not  lately  produced.  It  was 
not  an  inquiry-meeting  I  held — but  an  exposition,  and  I  had  no 
private  talk.  I  never  met  with  the  misapprehension  you  sur- 
mise.^ On  that  ground,  we  should  never  have  a  Bible  Class,  or 
a  Young  Men's  Meeting.  Above  all,  the  objection  would  lie 
against  your  taking  a  child  into  your  study  for  advice  and  prayer, 
which. would  yet  more  suggest  the  esoteric  scruple.  Though  I 
have  no  "inquiry-meeting,"  I  shovild  make  the  having  one  a 
simple  question  of  degree.  If  a  pastor  cannot  conveniently  see 
them  apart,  I  think  it  would  be  prudery  not  to  see  them  together. 
As  an  instrument  of  excitement  I  have  always  feared  them.  I 
.add  but'  a  few,  to  the  cases  first  known.  But  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  my  flock  appears  in  the  very  state  you  mention,  "  in 
the  place  of  the  bringing  forth  of  children."  All  this  winter  I 
have  preached  doctrinally— in  a  disguised  series — and  chiefly  about 
conviction,  conversion,  faith,  &;c.  I  generally  conclude,  after  inter- 
views, that  this  reluctancy  (in  truly  serious  persons)  arises  from 
dim  views  of  doctrine,  feeble  grasj)  of  the  truth,  legal  notions  of 
.the  preparation  which  they  must  see  in  themselves.  New-measure 
people  undertake .  to  use  instruments,  and  often  kill  the  child. 
In  spiritual  as  in  natural  travail,  I  suppose  there  must  be  much 
waiting.  •   I  hope  we  shall.  May  11,  add  some  sixteen.'^ 

■  A  Spaniard,  a  civilian  from  Madrid,  is  here,  on  Bible  Society 
business ;  a  thorough  Protestant;  says  there  are  many  such  in 
Spain;'  considers  the  country  on  the  verge  of  religious  freedom; 
.brings  a  liberal  work  of  his  own  in  sheets ;   explains  the  late 
.vote  in  the  Cortes  very  clearly,  &c.     I  never  before  saw  beauty 
in  the  pantomime  of   feature  and  hands.     He  speaks  French 
fluently.  ;  We  parsons  are  often  and  justly  rallied  for  being  taken 
.in ;- but  every  few  days  I  find  the  same  happening  to  sharp 
worldlings.  .- A  wealthy  merchant  told  me  last  night  this  anec- 
dote :  •  He  had  a  large  and  costly  set  of  china  fraudulently  taken 
from  him  by  a  woman.     Not  long  after,  this  very  woman  got 
.$100  from  him  for  a  charity,  since  exploded;  at  the  very  mo- 
ment his  suit  against  her  was  in  progress. 

^■."  The  trouble  I  have  about  the  private  meetings  is  the  apparent  admis- 
sion that  all  the  cHrections' for  '  guiding  those  that  are  seeking  salvation,' 
'are  not  given  in  the  pulpit,  and  so  countenancing  the  notion  of  some  that 
■there  are  esoteric  instructions  which  they  must  get  in  some  other  than  the 
ordinary  way.  AVould  it  not  be  well  to  hold  the  inquiry-meeting  in  the 
church?  I  mean,  to  make  the  regular  services  take  the  direction  of  the 
simplest  colloquial  advice." 

2  On  that  day  \1  were  admitted  on  examination ;  Y  on  certificate. 


1851— 185T.  225 

New  York,  May  29,  1856. 
The  Assembly  was  dissolved  last  night,  with  exercises  of  a  most 
touching  character.  It  is  the  unusual  opinion  that  no  G.  A.  has 
been  so  edifying.  From  beginning  to  end  there  was  no  squabble, 
nor  was  one  sarcasm  uttered.  No  decision  of  the  Chair  was 
appealed  from,  and  only  one  was  questioned.  All  this,  under 
God,  was  owing  to  the  good  sense  and  affectionate  piety  of  Dr. 
McFarland,  [the  Moderator,]  who  has  carried  away  both  rever- 
ence and  love.  There  was  an  absence  of  stars  ;  but  the  average 
talent  was  uncommon.  Probably  no  Assembly  has  had  so  many 
valuable  laymen.  The  men  most  listened  to  were  Thornwell, 
Eice,  Peck,  Marshall,  D.  Lord,  Johns,  Judge  Leavitt,  Judge 
Allen,  Humphrey,  Harrison.  Welch,  in  Committees,  and  once 
on  the  floor,  made  his  remarkable  powers  of  mind  known,  and 
will  be  remembered  as  much  as  any  one.'  The  feeling  of  satis- 
faction, as  to  the  way  they  have  been  treated,  is  very  warmly 
and  generally  expressed.  I  never  felt  more  complacent  as  to 
my  church,  and  am  grateful  that  a  meeting  for  which  I  enter- 
tained such  fears  has  turned  out  so  much  to  the  honour  of  relioion 
and  the  satisfaction  of  all.  The  ablest  speech,  and  one  of'^the 
ablest  I  ever  heard,  for  argument,  adroitness,  tact,  style,  elocution, 
and  modest  power,  was  Humphrey's,  on  the  Danville  Seminary. 

New  York,  June  10,  1856. 
I  own  our  desert  of  national  judgments,  and  that  the  signs 
are  alarming.  Yet  I  think  the  present  concussion  is  a  temporary 
thing.  The  affair  in  Kansas  1  trust  has  reached  its  acme.  A 
minister  from  the  heart  of  the  troubles  has  just  left  me ;  he  is 
hopeful.  The  exaggerations  of  the  journals  are  horrible.  Such 
questions  should  never  have  been  left  to  be  settled  by  a  border 
mob.  Whatever  Democracy  may  be  in  settled  States,  it  is  only 
strong  government  which  can  rule  frontiers.  Dr.  Hodge  has 
most  admirably  stated  the  slavery  doctrine,  in  his  Ephesians. 
Inter  alia  :  "  It  is  just  as  great  a  sin  to  deprive  a  slave  of  the  just 
recompense  for  his  labour,  or  to  keep  him  in  ignorance,  or  to 
take  from  him  his  wife  or  child,  as  it  is  to  act  thus  towards  a  free 
man  ;  "  p.  369.  How  nobly  this  clear  enunciation  of  a  scriptural 
principle  towers  above  all  the  extravagancies  of  both  sides ! 

New  York,  June  21,  1856. 
^  I  made  my  first  acquaintance  with  Bridgeport  (Connecticut) 
this  week,  having  gone  there  to  preach,  and  converse,  and  pray 
with  Mrs.  H.'^     I  dare  not  say  it  is  the  most  beautiful  place  *I 

'  Ashbel  Welch,  Elder  of  Lambertsville,  N.  J. 

^  He  preached  in  Bridgeport,  June  19 ;   also  June  27,  July  10,  and 
August  24.  J        ^       > 

VOL.  II. 10* 


226  WHILE   PASTOK   OF   FIFTH   AVEXUE   CHUECH. 

ever  saw,  but  I  dare  as'  little  say  the  reverse.  Tlie  raihyay 
passes  far  away  from  its  surpassing  rural  villas.  Mrs.  H.  is  a 
wonder  of  knowledge,  Avisdom,  humility,  faith ;  every  thing,  in 
a  word,  which  can  glorify  religion.  I  never  had  what  seemed  to 
me  a  holier  sojourn.  I  propose  to  take  part  of  my  family  to 
Bridgeport  on  the  27th  to  board  for  a  week— maybe  longer. 
Cases  of  awakening  still  drop  in.  Two  new  cases  awaited  my 
return  yesterday. 

No  public  route  gives  any  idea  of  the  English  beauties  of 
New  England.  The  villages  grow  so  into  one  another,  in  the 
south  part  of  Connecticut,  that  men  confidently  predict  a  row 
of  lamps  a  hundred  miles  east  of  our  city,  as  they  now  are  eight 
miles  to  Harlem. 

Newport,  July  28,  1856. 
I  am  to  be  addressed  at  "  Cliff  House,  care  Ch.  T.  Hazard." 
There  are  thirty-six  Mrs.  Hazards  in  Newport.  We  are  on  the 
very  beach  or  bank,  only  a  broad  field  intervening  between  our 
yard  and  the  cliffs,  at  whose  base  the  sea  breaks.  Looking  across 
a  horse-shoe  cove,  on  the  left  or  north  of  which  is  the  bathing 
beach,  I  see  three  points  or  capes,  between  which  are  two  coves 
Avith  their  respective  beaches.  Beyond  all,  the  village  of  Little 
Compton  glitters  in  the  sun.  The  waves  are  gently  swaying 
without  breaking,  and  the  scene  is  very  calm.  In  the  sun  it 
has  been  pretty  vrarm  to-day,  but  there  is  a  breeze,  and  when- 
ever we  drive  out  in  the  evening  we  need  an  overcoat.  The 
hot  Friday,  when  New  York  and  Philadelphia  thermometers 
marked  100°,  it  was  74°  all  day  on  the  Point,  south  of  us.  In 
the  town,  however,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  glowing  heat.  The 
place  at  which  we  are  is  part  of  a  tract,  which  Hazard  has  just  lost 
by  a  decree  in  Chancery.  The  house  in  which  I  stay,  was  once 
rented  by  Longfellow  and  his  friends.  I  have  news  of  our 
Henry  to"  within  a  week,  by  Mr.  J.  Auchincloss,  who  unexpectedly 
saw  him  on  board  of  a  propeller  in  Lake  Superior.  He  and  his 
companion  have  nearly  disposed  of  the  six  boxes  of  Presbyterian 
books  which  they  took  on.  The  chief  buyers  have  been  the 
Cornishmen  in  the  mines.  He  is  in  the  land  of  the  Dakotah, 
of  Indian  lodges,  dog-trains,  and  snow  shoes.  Their  journeys  on 
foot,  with  sacks  on  their  backs,  have  been  numerous.  The  time 
I  spent  in  Bridgeport  was  very  agreeable.  It  is  a  beautiful 
place,  with  pleasant  drives  around  it.  Stratford,  Fairfield,  and 
Greenfield  Hill,  are  very  charming.  In  no  part  of  rural  Con- 
necticut do  I  see  any  of  those  marks  of  a  degraded  white  popu- 
lation, which  Southern  orators  say  must  appear  where  there  is 
no  servile  class.     On  the  contrary,  I  a«i  more  and  more  struck 


1851—1857.  227 

with  the  thrift  and  equalized  comfort  of  the  small  yeomanry  of 
Puritan  Ne\y  England.     In  this  I  do  not  include  Rhode  Island. 

Several  rather  extraordinary  instances  of  good  done  by  simple 
reading  of  the  Bible  with  inquirers  have  lately  turned  up  in  my 
ministry.  •  Addison  is  writing  on  Acts,  in  my  study,  and  printing 
also.  A  new  Presbyterian  Church  is  about  to  be  organized  at 
Deep  River,  (Say brook  town,)  Connecticut,  under  Mr.  Connitt. 
I  have  nothing  but  what  the  papers  will  give  you,  concerning  the 
terrible  disaster  to  the  "  Empire  State  "  near  us  on  the  26th. 
Mr.  Thayer  preached  an  original  and  grand  sermon  yesterday  on 
Self-conceit. 

August  4. — The  thermometer  keeps  about  76°  on  our  Cliff, 
but  it  is  pretty  hot  in  town.  People  are  very  proud  of  ther- 
mometers which  go  higher  and  lower  than  their  neighbours'. 
Thayer  and  Cheever  yesterday.  The  latter  strangely  and  un- 
couthly  original  and  fascinating.  He  reached  me  deeply.  Thay- 
er's sermon  was  great  on  "  take  heed  how  ye  hear."  On  or 
about  August  14th,  we  go  to  Bristol,  R.  L,  for  a  week ;  thence, 
perhaps,  by  a  short  detour  to  Bridgeport.  The  absence  of  com- 
mon piety  and  religious  feeling  in  society,  is  much  more  manifest 
here  [New  England]  than  with  us.  The  spirit  as  well  of  hear- 
ing as  of  ^^•orship,  seems  gone.  Politics,  Abstinence,  and  Sla- 
very, usurp  the  "  sacred  desk." 

New  York,  ^i<<72is^  23,  1856. 

I  came  here  yesterday  from  Bridgeport,  where  I  left  my  wife 
and  child,  and  write  from  my  own  house,  where,  however,  I  do 
not  expect  my  folks  till  September.  I  have  some  preaching  yet 
to  do  in  Connecticut,  by  which  I  may  contribute  somewhat  to 
hold  up  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterian  brethren.^  Through  what 
we  call  an  accident,  there  met  at  Henry's  table  last  night  in 
27th  street  all  our  brotherhood,  except  Archibald,  making,  with 
my  Henry,  six.  When  are  we  likely  so  to  meet  again  !  1  trust 
your  mother  will  rally,  but  every  year  brings  its  painful  warn- 
ings at  such  an  age.     God  grant  her  a  blessed  evening  ! 

How  ridiculously  American  is  the  scuffle  of  the  Scientific 
Association  at  Albany  about  Constitution  and  By-laws  ! 

The  German  Fremonters  make  infidelity  and  drink  fio-ure 
largely  on  their  banners.  In  New  England  I  found  no  Democrats, 
but  sundry  Fillmore  men.  There  is  a  feeling  that  he  would  con- 
ciliate. 

I  spent  some  days  in  Bristol,  R.  I. ;  from  which  place  I  think 
I  wrote  to  your  worship.     It  is  a  thorough  wreck  ;  gr-ass  every- 

^  He  preached  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Hartford,  August  31. 


228  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   ATENTE    CHTECH. 

where  literally  growing  in  its  broad,  beautifully  shaded  Phila- 
delphian  streets.  Numerous  Cubans  of  wealth  summer  there. 
The  harbour  and  surroundings  are  enchanting.  They  kept  up 
slaving  as  late  as  1816.  A  negro  ghetto  of  Bristol  is  still  named 
Goree.  The  aspect  of  interior  New  England  is  pleasing  ;  from 
the  total  absence  of  any  patent  squalor.  Mechanics  everywhere 
live  in  houses  a  hundred  per  cent,  above  the  same  class  in  Penn- 
sylvania or  New  Jersey.  I  wish  our  Calhounites  could  see  that 
the  small  farmers  of  Comiecticut  have  more  comforts  of  civiliza- 
tion than  many  wealthy  planters.  The  remaining  of  certain  old 
Puritan  habitudes  is  striking  ;  such  as  a  noon  bell  and  curfew. 

Xew  York,  September  5,  1856. 

I  should  have  gladly  kept  my  wife  and  boy  a  little  longer  in 
rural  air;  but  we  were  made  uncomfortable  at  Bridgeport, 
whither  we  came  from  Bristol,  by  overcrowding  in  the  house,  so 
we  returned  yesterday.  There  is  no  place  like  home.  My 
pulpit  has  been  very  well  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Myers,  of 
St.  Augustine.  Congregations  fair — though  very  few  of  our  own 
people. 

There  is  no  harm  in  repeating,  what  I  said  in  my  last,  how 
seriously  1  feel  the  tidings  you  give  respecting  your  mother. 
It  brings  my  own  warmly  before  me.  Not  only  were  they 
mutual  friends,  but  they  were  lovely  persons,  long  permitted  to 
escape  the  uncomely  accidents  of  old  age,  and  carrying  much  of 
the  sweet  natural  interest  of  girlhood  into  later  years.  "Where 
shall  we  ever  find  such  sympathy  with  us — especially  in  the 
minor  trials  of  life  1  Who  will  ever  so  imderstand  the  little 
weaknesses  of  our  character  ?  If  I  go  on  much  in  this  strain,  I 
shall  lose  my  composure  ;  especially  if  I  touch  on  other  associa- 
tions, more  equal,  and  as  strong.  Let  us  bless  God  for  such 
relations  and  affections.  From  what  you  say,  I  am  prepared  to 
hear  something  grave  concerning  your  mother's  case.  If  it 
should  ever  be  proper  to  do  so,  assure  her  of  my  love  and  prayers. 

It  is  wonderful  that  the  yellow-fever  has  moved  so  slowly. 
The  ravages  at  Fort  Hamilton  and  Governor's  Island  have  been 
great,  in  proportion  to  the  subjects.  At  the  former,  two  men 
fell  yesterday  at  battalion-drill.  Maj.  Morris,  the  Commandant, 
married  a  Ritchie  (nee  Alexander)  of  the  Delaware  Fairfield 
ftimily.  He  and  his  were  in  the  midst  of  it  before,  at  Tampico. 
It  is  too  much  to  expect  that  it  should  not  alight  and  spread  in 
our  Water-streets.^     If  reports  are  true,  there  have  been  some 

'  ^Tater-street — a  narrow,  confined  street,  on  the  Delaware  front  of 
Philadelphia. 


1851—1857.  229 

cases  to-day.     What  a  remarkable  respite   from  cholera   this 
Year,  all  over  the  country ! 

My  "  heft,"  as  the  Yankees  say,  has  increased  to  164  lbs. 
At  Hartford  I  visited  with  pleasure  the  only  original  portraits 
of  Pres.  Edwards  and  his  saintly  wife.  They  are  in  the  Edwards 
flmiily.  I  also  saw  the  Charter-Oak  lying  in  massive  glory  on  the 
earth  :  "  The  Charter  Oak,  it  was  the  tree,  that  balked  his  sacred 
majesty."  I  have  never  seen  so  much  of  the  country  and  every- 
day life  of  New  England,  as  this  summer,  and  it  has  been  with 
increased  respect.  The  average  of  domestic  comfort  and  even 
refinement  I  believe  to  be  unequalled  in  the  world.  We  talk  of 
Scotland,  and  justly ;  but  Scotland  has  thousands  of  squalid 
peat-smoky  hovels,  where  the  best  fiire  is  oatmeal-porridge. 
There  is  nothing  of  this  in  Yankee-land,  but  by  importation. 

New  York,  September  17,  1856. 

I  am  less  surprised  than  pained  by  the  tidings  you  give  me. 
Requiescit  in  pace.  My  recollections  go  back  with  a  sad  pleasure 
to  the  old  Sixth  St.  house.  What  friendly,  long-continued,  un- 
varying kindness  to  us  and  ours  !  What  shadows  flit  along  the 
back-ground — some  friends  and  some  only  acquaintances — and 
how  many  gone  ! 

It  is  a  trial  to  me  not  to  be  able  to  go  to  the  funeral  of  one 
of  the  truest  friends  I  ever  had.  I  have  notice  of  an  invalid 
passing  through  town,  who  makes  aii  appointment  with  me  for 
that  very  day  ;  and  the  circumstances  are  important  and  delicate. 
You  will  now  comprehend  a  feeling  of  family-headship,  Avhich 
comes  heavily  over  one,  upon  the  departure  of  a  last  surviving 
parent. 

[I  subjoin  a  letter  written  on  the  same  afl^icting  event  to  a 

sister  of  my  mother.] 

New  York,  September  25,  1856. 

It  was  impossible  for  me  to  hear  of  the  departure  of  your 
beloved  sister,  without  thinking  very  much  of  you.  Eew  persons, 
even  of  the  connexion,  have  been  with  her  so  constantly  during 
her  decline.  Perhaps  none  on  earth  knew  her  better.  Naturally, 
therefore,  your  sorrow  must  be  great. 

Among  the  consolatoins  Avhich  you  have  so  richly,  one  is  the 
knowledge  that  our  dear  and  valued  friend  was  esteemed  by  so 
large  a  circle.  No  one  of  my  whole  acquaintance  was  ever  more 
spared  the  deformities  and  disagreeable  points  of  old  age ;  in  this 
resembling  your  father,  whom  I  well  remember,  as  the  sweetest 
looking  old  gentleman  I  ever  saw.  Then  you  have  the  pleasmg 
reflection  for  life,  that  it  was  placed  in  your  power  to  minister 


230  WHILE   PASTOE   OF   FIFTH   AYENTJE   CHUECH. 

with  sisterly  affection,  in  the  dwelling  and  at  the  couch  of  one 
whom  you  loved.  But,  above  all,  we  must  be  consoled  by  the 
bright  hope  which  we  entertain,  concerning  the  present  and  future 
happiness  of  our  deceased  sister.  Though  a  silent  and  humble, 
she  was  a  sincere  and  a  consistent  Christian.  Her  trust  was  in 
the  Divine  Saviour  of  sinners,  to  the  rejection  of  all  self-righteous 
merits.  This  faith  diffused  serenity  over  her  closing  hours. 
Little  as  is  revealed  to  us  concerning  the  details  of  the  eternal 
blessedness,  we  know  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous  are  with 
the  Lord,  and  that  those  who  are  absent  from  the  body  are 
present  with  the  Lord. 

It  is  a  source  of  great  comfort  to  those  of  us  who  survive, 
that  your  sister  was  not  content  to  cherish  religious  sentiments 
in  her  private  thoughts,  but  spontaneously  added  herself  to  the 
Lord's  witnesses,  by  becoming  a  communicant  in  his  Church. 

How  natural  it  is  for  our  minds  to  go  back  to  those  who  are 
gone  !  Where  are  our  parents,  and  the  religious  teachers  of  our 
youth  1  Where  are  our  own  companions  1  Well  do  I  remem- 
ber Mr.  Hall,  with  that  spare,  and  dignified,  and  gentle  form 
which  belonged  to  him.  My  dear  friend,  "  The  fashion  of  this 
world  passeth  away."  May  we  find  grace  to  appear  clad  in  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  at  his  coming ! 

New  York,  Septe7nber  30,  1856. 

A  letter  of  my  father  (1809)  has  turned  up,  in  which  he 
states  that  I  had  been  at  school  a  week.  1  remember  it  well ; 
it  was  to  "Madam  Thomson,"  in  Lombard  street,  [Philadelphia.] 
A  sort  of  self-pity  always  comes  over  me  Avhen  I  think  of  my 
days  of  childhood ;  I  do  not  detect  it  so  much  in  others.  It 
seems  to  me  I  had  more  unuttered  distresses  than  most  children. 
How  long  a  poor  child  will  harbour  an  afflictive  scruple  about 
religion,  which  would  have  been  instantly  dissipated  by  disclosure ! 

Bush  writes  to  me.  He  expatiates  on  the  excellencies  of 
Howe,  Owen,  and  Burroughs,  in  precisely  the  terms  which  he 
would  have  used  thirty  years  ago.  My  folks  are  coming  in 
pretty  fiist,  but  many  are  yet  absent.  Mauch  Chunk  is  looking 
for  a  pastor — not  too  young — man  of  experience ;  schedule  of 
gifts — not  this,  not  that.  Webster  lived  and  died  on  a  stipend 
of  $400.  If  it  had  not  rained,  a  thousand  carters  were  to  have 
turned  out  last  night  for  Fillmore.  Within  a  few  weeks,  I  hear 
many  more  voices  in  this  state  (it  is  very  hard  to  say  "  otir  state  ") 
for  Fillmore.  Numerous  private  accounts  speak  well  of  Mr. 
JNIonsalvatge's  preaching  and  labours  at  Carthagena.  He  has  a 
great  body  of  young  Granadans  on  his  side.  Lie  has  sent  me 
several  sermons,  openly  printed  in  the  city  newspaj)ers.     Mr. 


1851—1857.  231 

Pratt,  late  of  Princeton,  writes  encouragingly  from  Bogota,  I 
forgot  whether  I  wrote  from  Bristol  about  Mr.  G.,  an^accom- 
plished  Cuban  gentleman,  one  of  several  persons  of  wealth  who 
summer  in^  Rhode  Island.  He  was  bred  in  Spain,  and  is  an 
author.  What  is  pleasing  is,  that  he  is  a  pious  and  courageous 
Protestant.  Lecturing  on  Acts  xv.  1—35,  I  find  it  very  tough 
to  make  that  Council  at  Jerusalem  a  college  of  Bishops,  or" a 
General  Assembler,  or  a  Synod,  or  a  Presbytery,  or  a  Kirk-session, 
or  an  mclependent  congregation.  The  common  fiction  of  the 
Church  having  been  organized  on  the  plan  of  the  Synagoi^ue  is 
"  revolting  "  to  me  ;  incredulus  odi.  While  the  Apostles  lived, 
they  clearly  had  supreme  authority,  and  they  as  clearly  had  no 
successors.  Where  they  were  not.  Elders  ordained  by  them  had 
local  and  temporary  rule.  I  have  searched  in  vain  for  a  single 
instance  of  one  pastor  tied  to  07ie  congregation,  or  of  the  call  of 
one  congregation  as  necessary  to  orders.  All  the  ministry,  for 
what  appears,  was  ministerium  varjum,  which  the  impugners  of 
ordaining  sine  titulo  do  so  eschew.  My  love  to  your  environs. 
What  a  barbaric  pomp  about  the  crowning  of  the  Czar  ! 

P.  S.  October  2. — I  retain  the  preceding  in  order  to  say  that  I 
will  preserve  the  letters  for  you,  and  thank  you  for  them.'  All 
these  things  carry  one  back— back  !  I  like  the  allusion  to  the 
house  in  6th  street.  The  old  Philadelphia  carries  a  great  charm 
in  my  recollections.  I  have  the  only  severe  cold  I  have  had  in 
three  years,  and  do  not  see  how  I  can  do  duty  on  Sunday.  At 
my  prompting  Randolph  gets  out  a  book  for  Business  Men.  I 
chose  the  subject  of  Clerks,  and  what  I  have  written  on  it  will 
probably  appear  also  as  a  little  tractate.'  Your  libretto  and 
tract  were  received,  and  would  have  been  reviewed  by  me  but 
for  the  heavy  pressure  of  the  above,  and  of  completing  my  I^IS. 
on  Sunday  Schools,  wdiich  went  to  Philadelphia  yesterday.*' 

^  Letters  of  his  father. 
"The  Man  of  Business,  considered  in  his  various  relations."  The  con- 
tributors to  this  volume  were  Drs.  Alexander,  Sprague,  Todd  Tyno-  Ferris 
and  Stearns.  Dr.  Alexander's  subject  is,  "  The  Merchant's  Clerk  Cheered  and 
Counselled."  This  chapter  was  afterwM^ds  reprinted  by  itself,  and  one  per- 
son sold  more  than  a  thousand  copies  m  the  stores  of  New  York  iu  about 
four  weeks.  In  April,  1856,  Randolph  published  McLaren's  Se'rmons  on 
Glorying  in  the  Cross  of  Christ,"  for  which  Dr.  A.  wrote  an  intro- 
duction. 

'  "  The  American  Sunday-School  and  its  adjuncts.  By  James  W.  Alex- 
ander, D.  D. ;"  published  by  the  American  Sunday-School  Union,  1850,  342 
pages.  In  the  preface  he  says :  "  More  than  forty  years  ago  it  was  my  lot 
to  sit^  on  an  humble  form  in  one  of  the  earliest  Sunday-Schools  set  up  in 
America.  In  process  of  time  I  became  a  teacher  in  similar  institutions ; 
and  ever  since  my  entrance  upon  the  Gospel  ministry  I  have  counted  it  an 
honor  to  work  collaterally  in  the  same  cause.  In  attempting  to  promote 
the  same  ends,  I  have  constructed  and  launched  from  the  presses  which  now  ■. 


232  AVniLE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   A^TENUE   CHUECH. 

New  York,  November  19,  1856. 
The  young  woman  gives  very  good  satisfaction,  and  appears 
to  like  her  phiee.  She  went  away  for  one  day  and  night  without 
my  leave.  She  appears  to  be  steady  and  industrious  ;  good  at 
mending  and  at  washing  up  tea-things.  My  wife  has  said  nothing 
about  baking  or  ironing.     It  is  our  wish  to  keep  her  during  the 

winter.^ 

My  sprained  foot  is  not  much  better,  though  I  go  about. 
Thanksgiving  sermon  adds  a  somewhat  to  the  week's  writing.  I 
intend  to  touch  on  the  importance  of  our  being  united  in  peace 
with  all  English-speaking  people.  My  text  is  Deut.  xxxii.  8, 
to  word  "  Adam  "  inclusive.  Sprague's  book  ^  is  both  valu- 
able and  entertaining.  I  like  it  alf  the  better  for  the  number 
and  brevity  of  the  articles.  Some  of  them  are  quite  in  the 
manner  of  \he  late  Joseph  Miller,  Esq.  If  you  have  not  read 
Trench's  "  English  Past  and  Present,"  it  will  give  you  a  pleasant 
half-hour.  What  a  wonderful  fall  we  have  had,  for  fine  weather  ! 
Greatly  do  I  feel  the  deprivation  of  walking  freely,  and  more 
than  ever  do  I  sympathize  with  those  who  halt  alway.  Strange 
talk  this  in  the  papers,  as  if  the  Southern  fire-eaters  would  not 
vote  for  Buchanan,  unless  after  some  ultra  pledges  on  his  part. 
I  hope  and  pray  he  may  give  none.  Dr.  McCartee  has  come 
into  our  Presbytery,  and  taken  the  Westminster  Church  in  22d 
street.  Some  sermons,  which  I  have  on  hand,  (having  preached 
about  eight,)  will  perhaps  grow  into  a  book  on  Eaith.  Robin- 
son's [Palestine]  new  impression  puts  the  former  three  into  two 
volumes,  and  adds  a  new  third.  Stewart's  Brazil  is  not  very 
lively,  but  full  of  information.  Brazil  must  be  a  horrible  coun- 
try, as  Portuguese  is  a  horrible  lingo.  The  Hungarian  officer, 
who  formerly  appeared  in  Trenton,  awakens  my  pity  ;  he  is  now 
in  abject  mendicity — a  handsome  soldierly  fellow  too.  It  is  a 
dreadful  thing  to  be  an  exile  in  poverty.  The  thought  is  good 
for  Thanksgiving  Day. 

Xew  York,  January  2,  1857. 
January  1st  is  a  dies  non  with  us,  except  in  regard  of  calls, 

produce  the  present  work,  more  thau  thirty  trifles,  which,  '  for  better  for 
worse,'  have  gone  saiUng  out  upon  the  ocean  of  print,  some  to  be  high  and 
dry  on  the  strand  of  oblivion,  and  some  to  be  still  floating  on  the  wave, 
protected,  like  the  paper-nautilus,  by  their  very  frailty."  The  object  of  this 
work  is  to  prove  the  necessity  and  duty  of  providing  for  general  religious 
education,  and  to  show  how  this  end  is  promoted  by  Sunday-Schools  and 
religious  reading. 

^  This  pleasantry  refers  to  a  visit  from  one  of  his  correspondent's  chil- 
dren. 

-  "  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,"  vols.  1  and  2. 


1851—1857.  233 

so  I  now  wish  for  you  and  yours  a  happy  New  Year.  We  had 
175  calls.  I  am  told  Dr.  Spring  sometimes  has  300.  Holten's 
New  Granada  is  a  very  entertaining  book,  in  some  places  a  little 
free.     He  lets  you  well  into  Grjinadan  manners  and  customs.     I 

do  not  see  that differs  materially  from  Wright  and  Garrisou, 

save  in  decorum  of  language,  when  in  his  late  book  on  Slavery 
he  says  :  "  Unless  the  Bible  teaches  my  doctrine  about  slavery, 
it  is  not  of  God."  A  member  of  my  church  has  been  spending 
a  year  in  North  Wales.  He  hired  a  furnished  house,  library, 
&c.,  of  ample  size,  with  about  twenty  acres  of  pleasure-ground,  for 
£200.  The  whole  stood  within  a  walled  park  of  400  acres,  as 
good  as  his,  and  well-kept.  He  had  half-a-mile  of  wall,  ten  feet 
high,  for  wall-fruit,  and  had  every  sort  of  fruit  in  plenty.  In 
consequence  of  the  low  rent,  wages,  &c.,  he  calculates  that  he 
did  not  add  a  penny  to  his  year's  expenses,  though  he  includes 
the  transportation,  to  and  fro,  of  ten  persons. 

A  soliciting  missionary  from  Port  Natal  in  South  Africa,  is 
here ;  a  fiiirspoken  Scot,  named  Campbell.  Prof.  Owen  of  this 
city  is  about  to  come  out  with  a  commentary  on  the  Gospels. 
He  is  of  the  Free  Academy. 

I  lately  attended  high  mass  for  the  soul  of  Father  Andrade, 
and  saw  about  ten  priests  officiating.  The  incense  is  scarcely 
more  than  nominal.  In  my  day,  we  used  to  get  a  very  tolerable 
sniff;  and  in  Paris,  I  think,  I  saw  a  dozen  censers  going  all  in  a 
row,  with  a  dexterous  perpendicular  hoist,  which  it  must  take 
some  time  to  learn.  Our  motto  for  1857  is :  "  Ptejoice  ever- 
more." ^ 

I  have  arrived  at  the  16th  chapter  of  Acts  in  my  exposition. 
Sometimes  I  wish  no  other  sort  of  preaching  had  been  invented. 
I  wish  I  knew  more  about  the  Doverites,  Derbyites,  or  Plymouth 
brethren.  They  seem  to  have  made  much  progress  among  the 
French  Protestants.  An  odd  fish  has  applied  to  me  for  my  life 
towards  his  "  Eloquent  Divines,"  about  to  appear.  I  have  refused 
and  derided,  but  experiences  teach  that  this  is  no  protection. 
This  is  the  seventh  letter  at  this  sitting,  and  some  of  them  more 
lengthy  ;  this,  therefore,  can  only  be  strengthy,  as  is  the  regard 
of.  Sir,  your  friend  and  subscriber. 

^  His  sermon  on  the  year-text  was  usually  preached  at  the  afternoon  ser- 
vice of  the  first  Sunday  in  the  year.  The  morning  service  of  that  day  had 
usually  a  reference  to  the  annual  collection  made  at  that  time  for  Foreign 
Missions.  The  collection  on  Jan.  2,  1857,  amounted  to  $7,600.  In  the  pre- 
ceding month,  the  collection  for  Domestic  Missions  had  been  nearly  $4,000. 
In  February,  185Y,  the  collection  for  the  Board  of  Education  was  $4,(300  ; 
in  May,  for  Sunday-Schools,  $1,300 ;  in  November,  for  the  Bible  Society, 
$2,600. 


234:  T\'HILE   PASTOK   OF   FITTH   AYENTE   CHTECH. 

Xe-sv  York,  ITarch  9,  1857. 
Louis  Napoleon  has  introduced  a  new  kind  of  state-paper,  racy 
as  a  vaudeville  ;  it  is  too  -svittv/  Addison  calls  nij  attention  to 
tJie  remarkable  revolution,  which,  under  the  Palmerston  rule,  is 
going  on  in  the  English  sees,  in  favour  of  Evangelicalism.  Both 
archbishops  and  the  three  leading  bishops  are  now  on  that  side. 
I  find  "  grand-daughter  "  in  Webster  and  Worcester  ;  the  only 
authorities  I  have.^  ]\Ir.  B.,  of  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  writes  to 
me  that  the  new  houses  building  there,  are  "  hundreds."  He 
also  says,  if  things  go  on  so  for  two  years,  that  the  region  200 
miles  west  of  the  east  border  will  be  the  most  thickly  peopled 
portion  of  the  Western  States.  Mr.  M.  bought  $500  worth  of 
land  on  the  site  of  ISIilwaukee,  thirteen  years  ago.  Its  sworn 
value  now  is  8400,000.  The  Eerguson  who  wrote  "  America  by 
Eail  and  Steam,"  is  a  banker  and  a  deacon  of  Dr.  Hamilton's. 
He  has  been  here  on  a  second  visit. 

There  is  something  very  striking  in  the  prayer,  with  which 
St.  Augustine  commonly  closed   his   sermons  :     "  Conversi  ad 
Dominum,  Deum,  Patrem  omnipotentem,  puro  corde,  Ei,  quan- 
tum potest  parvitas  nostra,  maximas  atque  uberes  gratias  aga- 
mus  :  precantes  toto  animo  singularem  mansuetudinem  ejus,  ut 
preces  nostras  in  beneplacito  suo  exaudire  dignetur ;  inimicum 
quoque  a  nostris  actibus  et  cogitationibus  sua  virtute  expellat, 
nobis  multiplicet  fidem,  mentem  gubernet,  spirituales  cogitationes 
concedat,  et  ad  beatitudinem  suam  perducat :  per  Jesum  Chris- 
tum Eilium  suum,  Dominum  nostrum,  qui  cum  eo  vivit  et  regnat 
in  unitate  Spiritus  sancti  Deus,  per  omnia  scecula   steculorum. 
Amen."    It  is  beautiful  Latin,  and  much  more  fall  of  matter  than 
"  a  Prayer  of  St.  Chrysostom."  ^     Its  first  words,  with  an  "  &c.," 
so  often  close  the  "  Conciones,"  that  I  presume  he  always  used  it. 
Augustine  is  the  only  father  of  whom  I  read  much ;    and  the 
more  I  read,  the  more  I  perceive  that  if  you  leave  out  predesti- 
nation and  justification  by  faith,  his  scheme,  and  that  of   the 
Catholic  Church  of  his  day,  was  just  that  which  Pusey  would 
restore.     Nothing  can  be  more  garbled  and  misleading,  than  the 
centos  given  by  Milner.* 

^  I  suppose  tlie  allusion  is  to  the  Emperor's  speech,  at  the  opening  of  the 
Chambers  in  1857.  The  "  wit"  must  be  in  the  sentence  where,  in  reference 
to  the  inundations,  it  is  said :  "  I  make  it  a  point  of  honor,  that  in  France 
rivers,  like  revolutions,  must  return  to  their  beds,  or  that  they  must  not 
leave  them." 

^  I  had  insisted  that  such  a  purist  as  he  should  follow  the  old  standard 
dictionaries,  which  give  but  one  d  in  this  word. 

^  In  the  "  Book  of  Common  Prayer," 

■*  In  the  Xew  York  "  Journal  of  Commerce,"  of  March  10,  there  is  a  free 
translation,  with  comments,  from  Horace,  Ode  24,  Book  3,  in  application  to 
the  vices  of  the  age,  which  I  think  I  cannot  be  mistaken  in  attributing  to 
Dr.  Alexander. 


1851—1857.  235 

New  York,  April  2Y,  ISoY. 

Addison  preached  for  me  yesterday,  though  I  think  I  could 
have  preached  once  myself.  My  chief  annoyance  is  a  difficulty 
of  breathing,  oppression,  or  strangling  sensation,  which  comes 
on  at  times,  and  especially  at  night.'  While  Hugh  Miller's  new 
book"  contains  lots  of  things  which  I  do  not  believe,  it  has  some 
— many — of  the  sublimest  views  respecting  creation  and  re- 
demption, that  I  ever  met  with.  Some  of  his  sweeps  of  high 
description  are  inimitable.  Yet  he  always  says  ere  for  before, 
and  mai/kap  for  perhcqjs.  The  biographies  by  Macaulay,  in  sev- 
eral numbers  of  Harper,  are  worth  reading  ;  they  are  from  the  last 
(Sth)  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  In  a  life  of  Sir  H. 
Davy,  by  Rogers,  it  is  said,  (1812,  &c. :)  "  A  certain  change  (it 
must  with  regret  be  owned)  came  over  his  state  of  mind,  tar- 
nished his  serenity,  and  gradually,  though  imperceptibly,  weakened 
his  scientific  zeal.  It  was  to  be  ascribed  solely,  we  believe,  to  the 
severe  ordeal  of  exuberant  but  heartless  popularity,  which  he  un- 
derwent in  London.     The  flatteries  of  fashionable  life by 

degrees  attached  Davy  to  the  fiishionable  world,  and  loosened 
his  ties  to  the  laboratory,  which  had  been  to  him  the  sole  and  fit 
scene  of  his  triumphs."  AYe  have  a  cold  easterly  drizzle — as 
yet  more  wind  than  rain.  Addison  visited  his  native  house  on 
his  birthday,  and  ate  an  ice-cream  in  what  was  my  father's  study. 
I  distinctly  remember  the  day  J.  A.  A.  was  born.^ 

AVhen  Peter  Cunningham  shall  have  digested  all  Walpole's 
Letters  into  one  chronological  series,  with  the  promised  notes,  it 
will  be  the  richest  collection  of  gossip  in  the  world.  Some  one 
of  my  congregation  visits  the  Holy  Land,  CA^ery  year,  at  least. 
Lord  Napier  is  surveying  our  town, 

I  have  seldom  been  more  pained  by  a  thing  of  the  kind  than  by 
your  account  of  S.,  [lost  at  sea.]  Poor  little  S. !  AYe  remem- 
ber him  as  coming  into  our  sick  chamber  in  Sth  street  [Phila- 
delphia] to  show  his  little  fat  leg.  Poor  mother  !  I  earnestly 
hope  she  will  have  spiritual  indemnity.  Mrs.  H.  was  buried 
yesterday.  She  was  free  from  extreme  sufl'ering  towards  the 
last.  Mr.  J.,  a  good  friend  of  ours,  has  died  of  dreadful  disease 
of  the  heart.     How  voluminous  would  be  the  list  of  the  dead 

^  On  the  9tli  April  he  had  written  :  "  I  am  laboring  under  a  very  pain- 
ful irritation  of  throat  and  fauces."  He  was  able  to  preach  but  twice  in 
April,  and  four  times  in  May.  His  cough  had  then  become  so  threatening, 
that  a  voyage  seemed  to  be  the  only  resort  that  promised  permanent 
relief. 

2  "  The  Testimony  of  the  Rocks." 

^  The  house  was  in  Lombard  street,  Philadelphia :  the  date  was  April 
24,  1S09. 


236  WHILE   PASTOR   OF   FIFTH   AVENUE   CHUECH. 

whom  we  have  known ;  and  how  strangely  some  of  them  pass 
out  of  mind ! 

Dr.  B.  used  to  read  Voltaire  as  the  best  Christians  read  the 
Bible.  Mrs.  B.  often  said  to  me  that  the  only  comfort  she  had 
was  in  going  to  church,  and  that  she  looked  forward  to  this 
all  the  week.  I  have  often  pondered  on  this  and  hoped  it  might 
prove  to  be  the  case  with  many  whom  we  overlook  in  estimating 
the  value  of  Divine  service. 

There  is  a  certain  point  at  which  a  man's  mishaps  operate 
against  him,  much  as  if  they  were  moral  delinquencies. 

Xew  York,  May  26,  1857. 

To-morrow,  it  may  be  presumed,  will  be  too  busy  for  writing. 
I  take  to-day  therefore  for  farewells  to  you  and  all  your  house. 

My  address  is :    W.  A.  and  G.  Maxivell  d:  Co.,  Liverpool} 

Every  thing  preparative  has  been  ordered  very  flivourably. 

There  is  something  serious  in  such  separations,  which  I  feel 
just  now  ;  in  better  moments  we  will  remember  one  another.'^ 

^  Dr.  Alexander,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  youngest  child,  embai-ked 
in  the  steamer  Baltic,  for  Liverpool,  May  27th. 

^  The  frequent  allusions  which  have  occurred  in  the  letters  of  this  and 
other  chapters,  to  theu'  writer's  interest  in  the  American  Tract  Society,  will 
make  acceptable  the  following  notice  communicated  to  me  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hallock,  one  of  its  Secretaries  : 

"  The  memory  of  Dr.  James  "W.  Alexander  is  precious  to  the  Executive 
Committee  and  officers  of  the  American  Tract  Society.  As  his  father,  Dr. 
Archibald  Alexander,  was,  from  the  formation  of  the  Society  in  1825  till 
his  death  in  1851,  an  unwavering  friend,  supporter,  and  counsellor,  making 
valuable  contributions  to  the  list  of  its  publications  by  his  pen,  and  acting 
for  three  years  as  a  member  of  its  Publishing  Committee,  so  the  son,  in 
similar  relations  and  by  almost  all  the  same  means,  gave  the  Society  his 
cordial  and  efficient  co-operation. 

"When,  in  1842,  a  public  deliberative  meeting  of  the  Society's  Board 
and  friends  was  held  for  three  days  in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  Dr.  James 
W.  Alexander,  who  was  then  at  Princeton,  communicated  an  able  document 
on  a  momentous  topic,  Avith  the  bearing  of  which  his  wide  range  of  reading 
and  observation  made  him  familiar,  '  The  Evils  of  an  Unsanctified  Liter- 
ature.' The  document  was  read  to  the  meeting  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Potts,  and 
was  published  in  a  volume  comprising  ten  other  documents  presented  at 
that  meeting,  and  a  record  of  its  proceedings. 

"  In  1845,  when  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  retired  from  his  labours  as  a 
member  of  the  Society's  Publishing  Committee,  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander, 
who  was  then  pastor  in  Xew  York,  was  elected  as  his  successor  ;  and  ful- 
filled ihe  duties  of  the  office  for  three  years,  when  the  pressure  of  his  official 
duties  in  the  ministry  compelled  him  to  retire,  and  the  Rev,  Dr.  Magic  suc- 
ceeded him  in  that  office. 

'•  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander,  soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  Amer- 
ican Messenger,  in  1842,  commenced  writing  for  it  valuable  but  anonymous 
articles,  which  were  continued,  from  time  to  time,  to  the  number  of  thirty 
or  forty  articles,  all  on  great  and  momentous  thenies  pertaining  to  the  com- 


1851—1857.  237 

mon  salvation.  In  this  way  alone,  addressing  each  month  not  far  from  two 
hundred  thousand  famiUes,  he  conveyed  messages  of  Christian  love  to 
millions  of  men  quite  beyond  the  rea'ch  of  his  preaching  or  other  written 
works. 

"  The  Society  published  in  their  series  his  excellent  tract  on  Revivals  of 
Religion ;  showing  that  by  true  revivals  of  religion  God  is  glorified,  the 
plan  of  redemption  accomphshed,  the  Church  raised  to  its  highest  pros- 
perity, and  that  such  an  extension  of  the  Church  is  demanded  by  the  pres- 
ent state  of  our  nation ;  embodying,  with  singular  discernment,  a  brief, 
comprehensive  sketch  of  the  history  of  revivals  from  Apostolic  days. 

"  The  Society  also  publish  his  volume  of  seventeen  revival  tracts, 
originally  issued  under  the  modest  title  of  "  Wayside  Books,"  in  successive 
numbers  during  the  progress  of  the  revival  of  1858,  when,  in  his  high  posi- 
tion as  pastor  of  the  church  in  the  Fifth  Avenue,  he  wished  not  only  to 
benefit  his  own  people,  but  others,  by  bearing  his  testimony  in  favour  of  the 
good  work,  but  to  give  individual  souls  in  the  various  stages  of  awakening 
or  quickening  under  Divine  influence,  the  needed  instruction,  counsel,  and 
guidance. 

"  The  very  titles  of  these  seventeen  tracts  (one  of  them  written  by  an 
intimate  fellow-labourer  in  the  ministry)  show  their  high  evangelical  char- 
acter and  aim,  and  the  wide  range  of  usefulness  to  which  they  are  adapted, 
and  in  which  they  will  doubtless  long  continue  to  give  what  may  be  almost 
regarded  as  their  author's  dying  testimony  to  the  truth  and  excellency  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  They  are  :  The  Revival ;  Seek  to  Save  Souls  ;  Pray 
for  the  Spirit;  The  Unawakened ;  Harden  not  your  Heart;  Varieties  in 
Anxious  Inquiry ;  Looking  unto  Jesus  ;  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  Sinner ; 
0  for  more  Feeling ;  Have  I  come  to  Christ  ?  My  Teacher,  my  Master ; 
My  Brother  ;  Sing  Praises ;  The  Harvest  of  Xew  York ;  Compel  them  to 
Come  in ;  Help  the  Seaman  ;  To  Firemen. 

"As  counsellors  in  all  questions  of  doubt  and  perplexity.  Dr.  James  "W. 
Alexander  and  his  father  were  uncommon  men — single-hearted,  far-seeing, 
calm,  practical,  judicious — and  favoured  was  the  friend,  the  benevolent  insti- 
tution, the  congregation,  the  church,  or  the  community,  who  could  resort 
to  them  and  receive  their  heaven-guided  lessons  of  wisdom.  Pleasant  were 
they  on  earth,  and  it  is  a  cheering  anticipation  that  we  may  meet  them  with 
all  the  redeemed  in  the  world  above." 


CHAPTEE   XIII. 

LETTERS    DURING  HIS    SECOND    YISIT  TO  EUROPE^ 

1857. 

Liverpool,  June  11,  ISo'Z. 
Through  God's  mercy  we  arrived  here  in  safety  on  the  7th, 
after  what  seamen  call  a  very  favourable  passage.  We  found 
valuable  friends  on  board,  and  have  also  found  numerous  acquaint- 
ances of  ourselves  or  our  friends,  in  this  town.  I  had  really 
forgotten  how  cool  the  weather  is  here.  We  have  been  under 
the  necessity  of  having  fires  every  evening,  and  I  shudder  with 
cold  most  of  the  time.  Though  my  cough  is  less,  it  has  not  left 
me.  We  have  just  returned  from  the  Exhibition  of  the  "  Art 
Treasures  "  at  Manchester — sixty  miles  going  and  returning  since 
morning ;  so  much  for  English  railways.  The  structure  itself 
is  fine,  and  much  resembling  the  Crystal  Palace.  The  value  of 
the  paintings  is  reckoned  by  scores  of  millions  of  pounds. 
Every  great  public  and  private  collection  in  England  has  given 
its  gems.  Without  being  a  connoisseur  I  was  ravished  with  the 
sight  of  the  great  works  of  the  greatest  masters.  Twenty  or 
thirty  Raphaels !  English  aristocracy  owns  more  of  Italian 
art  than  Italy  itself.  Among  the  moderns,  I  was  not  prepared  to 
be  so  delighted  as  I  am  with  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  All  his  great 
works  are  here.  You  learn  to  recognize  them  at  once,  and  their 
gracefidness  is  indescribable.  The  gallery  of  water-colours  opens 
quite  a  new  field  of  art  to  me.  Pew  of  the  sculptures  awaken 
me  much.  Canova's  all  seem  to  be  injured  by  mannerism.  I 
more  admire  Chantrey,  Marshall,  and  Gibson.  Hogarth's  paint- 
ings added  very  little  to  my  pleasure  in  his  engravings.  Gains- 
borough's best  pieces  are  enchanting. 

^  In  making  up  this  chapter  I  have  followed  the  same  course  as  in  the 
letters  of  the  visit  of  1851,  and  for  the  reasons  given  in  the  prefatory  note 
of  Chapter  XI.  ^ 


1857.  239 

Leamington,  June  18,  185Y. 

We  left  Liverpool  at  11,  and  came  by  Crewe,  "Wolverhamp- 
ton, Birmingham,  and  Coventry.  Haymaking  is  going  on,  and 
we  saw  and  heard  a  lark  ascend,  and  give  his  delicious  song. 
Leamington  is  the  cleanest  and  most  brilliant  place  I  ever  saw. 
Every  thing  has  a  miniatm-e  look.  The  trim  honses,  neat  shop- 
fronts,  white  flags,  and  perfectly  pure  streets,  affect  me  with  a 
sense  of  being  in  a  play-place.  I  can  hardly  think  it  real.  Eng- 
lish neatness  here  becomes  almost  Dutch.  I  forgot  to  say  that 
the  everlasting  succession  of  beauties,  in  hedgerow,  field,  and 
meadow,  with  unvaried  culture  and  perfect  green,  produces  at 
length  the  effect  of  gazing  on  a  pretty  face  without  expression. 
One  longs  for  a  bare  spot,  a  morsel  of  rude,  brushy  land,  or  a 
small  piece  of  bad  road. 

June  14. — We  have  been  to  All  Saints,  the  old  parish-church, 
large  and  full.  We  were  ushered  in  through  the  singing-boys 
to  a  seat  in  the  choir  immediately  behind  one  of  the  reading- 
pews.  The  service  was  given  cathedral-fashion.  Mr.  Bowen, 
the  curate,  preached  an  evangelical  sermon  from  the  Rich  Man 
and  Lazarus.  Soldiers  went  home  from  church  to  martial  music. 
The  rooks  were  cawing  in  their  nests  among  the  tops  of  the  trees 
as  we  came  to  our  inn. 

Such  has  been  the  popularity  of  the  Springs  here,  that  the 
place  numbers  15,000  inhabitants.  There  are  two  Leamington 
seasons  in  the  year ;  the  chief  one  being  in  winter,  as  is  true  also 
of  Brighton ;  the  other  is  in  the  hunting-time.  The  Cheshire 
hounds  have  a  famous  meet  in  that  county,  but  all  this  is  a  fox- 
hunting district.  Lord  Lonsdale  (as  we  guess  it  was)  told  us 
that  railways  have  greatly  facilitated  hunting  by  carrying  men 
and  even  horses  to  the  meets.  He  said  the  lands  on  our  way 
rented  for  about  three  pounds  an  acre,  but  some  in  better  districts 
for  five  pounds. 

I  have  formerly  noted  the  practice  of  having  a  little  hymn- 
book  for  the  particular  church.  The  one  here  was  full  of  our 
most  evangelical  hymns,  "  Just  as  I  am  "  and  the  like.  In  no 
New  England  town  have  I  ever  rem.arked  a  more  exact  and  still 
observance  of  the  Sabbath.  Invalid  persons  are  trundled  to 
church  in  bath-chairs,  as  an  everyday  thing ;  most  worthy  of 
imitation  among  us.  The  throngs  of  people  in  the  street  are 
perfectly  well-dressed,  and  all  with  brilliant  red  and  white  com- 
plexions. As  with  us  the  complexion  runs  often  into  pale  and 
yellow,  so  here  the  faulty  visages  are  red,  crimson,  scratchy, 
erysipelatic — there  are  many  such.  I  am  inclined  to  think  tliat 
the  purest  English  is  spoken  in  these  midland  counties.  I  detect 
very  little  provincial  in  the  guards  or  waiters.     Nothing  like 


240  DrEma  his  second  visrr  to  eueope. 

mendicity  or  even  poverty  lias  met  my  eye  at  Leamington  Priors. 
A  little  to  the  north-west  is  Baxter's  Kidderminster,  and  a  short 
journey  eastward  is  Doddridge's  Northampton.  Worcester  and 
Ed^ehill  are  not  flir  off,  and  if  we  took  the  old  mail-route,  we 
should  go  through  the  forest  of  Arden.  In  this  town  of  so  many 
thousands,  there  are  doubtless  many  "  brethren,"  but  how  shall 
I  find  them  out  ?  Every  thing  in  the  church-way  is  set  and 
petrified.  I  went  into  a  shop  for  tracts,  but  the  woman  looked 
like  a  nun,  and  the  books  all  smacked  of  Oxford. 

London,  June  15,  1857. 

We  left  Leamington  about  10  for  London,  via  Rugby.  At 
R.  we  saw  the  church,  but  could  not  see  the  school.  The  whole 
country  along  our  way  was  full  of  hay-making  and  sheep-shear- 
ing. As  we  neared  Olney,  Lsang  "  Begone  unbelief"  in  mem- 
ory of  John  Newton,  and  much  of  the  scenery  on  the  Ouse  was 
pleasant  as  of  the  very  sort  which  prompted  so  many  passages 
of  the  Task.  These  impressions  were  not  the  less  strong,  be- 
cause I  own  my  prevalent  mood  has  been  somewhat  sombre, 
ever  since  I  left  America. 

It  is  now  10  P.  M.,  but  the  boys  are  in  full  caper  in  the 
street  below,  and  there  is  still  a  lingering  blush  in  the  horizon. 
People  here  knock  and  ring.  All  servants  ring,  except  the  post- 
man, who  gives  two  knocks.  Coals  are  brought  to  the  door  in  a 
cart,  but  in  sacks,  and  each  of  these  is  emptied  down  a  hole  in  the 
sidewalk  ;  it  is  a  cleaner  and  even  quicker  operation  than  ours. 
The  free-and-easy  prevails  all  over  England  in  regard  to  vehicles, 
pony-chaises,  phaetons,  flies,  &c.  You  see  .two  rosy  girls  drive 
up  to  a  railway-station,  and,  perhaps,  take  a  relative  into  their 
low-wheeled  drag.  Numerous  cases  have  been  observed  by  us 
of  a  pony  drawing  four  adults  in  a  sort  of  buggy,  and  two  look- 
in  f^  backwards.  But  then  all  the  roads  are  as  smooth  as  this 
paper. 

4  Bernard  St.,  Russell  Square,  ) 
London,  June  18,  ISSY.  f 

Last  evening  I  attended  an  anniversary  soiree  of  the  Regent 
Square  and  Somerstown  Sunday  Schools,  held  in  Somerstown,  a 
neidibourhood  much  like  the  Five  Points.  Lady  and  gentlemen 
teachers  present  for  a  tea-drinking.  Then  up  stairs,  where  a 
meeting  lasted  two  and  a  half  hours.  Dr.  Hamilton  in  the 
chair,  who  received  me  with  great  warmth.  Numerous  speeches. 
Of  course,  1  made  an  address.  Hamilton's  gifted  vocabulary 
flowed  in  my  behalf.  The  cheers  and  "hears"  were  a  little 
appalling  to  me ;  but  good  nature  and  a  disposition  to  be  pleased 


1857.  241 

marked  every  thing.  I  thought  the  talent  displayed  by  these 
teachers  very  remarkable.  The  heartiness  and  almost  convivial 
glee  of  the  meeting  were  unlike  what  we  have  at  such  times. 

In  our  immediate  vicinity  is  the  vast  but  unfinished  cathe- 
dral of  the  Irvingites.  London  is  their  Jerusalem,  being  the 
seat  of  their  twelve  apostles  and  seven  churches.  They  have 
two  daily  services,  and  I  have  been  to  their  even-song.  The 
church  is  a  sublime  one.  About  sixty  persons  were  present,  of 
whom  part  were  clergy  in  rich  and  varied  robes.  The  chief  one, 
who  was  forward  and  apart,  near  the  altar,  was  wrapped  in  a 
heavy  dark  cloak  over  his  alb,  with  a  stole ;  he  took  the  lead, 
and  was  either  angel  or  bishop.  The  service  was  chanted  cathe- 
dral-wise, and  most  delightfully.  Altogether  it  was  a  very 
solemn  affiiir.     ]\Iuch  incense  was  used. 

June  21.  Sunday. — Very  warm.  Dr.  Hamilton's  church. 
The  text  Avas  Proverbs  viii.  1.  It  was  an  admirable  sermon. 
He  began  it  by  comparing  the  choice  of  Hercules  with  the  choice 
of  Solomon.  A  shower  ha^'ing  come  up,  I  went  in  the  afternoon 
to  the  neighbouring  church  of  the  Apostles  (Irvingite)  in  Gordon 
Square.  A  sermon  of  an  hour  was  first  preached  by  Mr.  John 
Wells,  on  the  "  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  was  read, 
was  well-delivered,  and  very  theological  and  orthodox,  until  near 
the  close  he  declared  that  the  day  of  miracles  and  prophecy  had 
returned.  Then  followed  the  regular  even-song,  which  was  alto- 
gether distinct.  The  big  ones  sat  in  common  seats  during  the 
sermon  with  purplish  cassocks  and  small  capes — three  having 
lace  sleeves  ;  but  during  the  vespers,  all  were  in  the  choir,  which 
is  of  immense  size.  There  were  twenty,  exclusive  of  the  singing- 
boys  in  white.  The  Angel  or  Bishop  (Mr.  Heath)  had  a  purple 
cloak  over  his  alb,  and  performed  his  part  to  admiration.  Of 
the  rest,  some  had  yellow  and  some  red  stoles,  (or  scarfs,)  and 
all  had  albs  or  white  dresses.  I  heard  one  pray  in  the  spirit,  one 
prophesy,  and  three  give  the  word  of  exhortation.  The  organ 
and  Gregorian  chant  were  in  perfection  ;  all  being  in  good  train- 
ing, and  the  congregation  (about  a  thousand)  generally  joining. 
The  sound  rolled  majestically  through  the  Gothic  vaults  of  the 
great  edifice,  which  is  quite  a  marvel  of  modern  architecture. 
The  incense,  the  intoning,  and  the  bowing  to  the  altar,  are  per- 
fectly popish,  but  the  service  and  ceremony  are  ver}^  fine  and  im- 
pressive.    I  do  not  believe  they  have  better  music  at  St.  Paul's. 

London,  June  23,  1857. 
The  new  buildings  of  Lincoln's  Inn  are  noble.     In  the  fine 
library  I   found  numbers  studying   and   compiling.     A  whole 
alcove  and  more  is  devoted  to  American  works,  [on  Law.]     Then 
VOL.  II. — 11 


24:2  DURING   HIS    SECOND   YISIT   TO   EITEOPE. 

to  the  Middle  and  Inner  Temples.  How  ancient  and  beautiful 
these  gardens,  walks,  and  green  trees,  opening  on  the  river  and 
full  of  associations  from  Shakspeare  downward  !  Professor  L., 
of  King's  College,  who  accompanied  me,  greatly  admires  Ameri- 
can jurisprudence,  and  amidst  all  his  compilations  says  that 
American  reports  are  most  useful  to  him.  He  may  be  called  a 
disciple  of  Story's,  whose  entire  works  he  showed  me.  In  the 
four  Inns  there  are  lectures,  Monday  on  Common  Law,  Tuesday 
on  Civil  Law,  Wednesday  on  Constitutional  Law,  Thursday  on 
Equity,  Friday  on  Real  Estate. 

After  all  this,  it  was  highly  proper  that  I  should  go  to  Smith- 
field.  I  made  my  approach  by  Skinner  Street  and  the  Old 
Bailey,  by  Snow  Hill  and  Giltspur  Street,  near  St.  Sepulchre's 
and  the  Compter.  This  is  one  of  the  mustiest  and  most  delicious 
parts  of  old  London ;  for  here  enters  Hosier  Lane,  (Swift  speaks 
of  the  "  veriest  cockney  of  Hosier  Lane,")  and  Cock  Lane,  famous 
for  Dr.  Johnson's  and  Wesley's  visit  to  the  ghost.  And  here  is 
Pye  Corner,  where  the  fire  of  1666  stopped.  The  great  area  of 
Smithfield,  vast  indeed,  remains,  and  the  imiumerabie  stalls  are 
left,  but  the  glory  is  departed.  Not  only  are  there  no  martyrs, 
like  John  Rogers,  but  there  are  no  beasts.  ■  I  saw  a  timid  flock 
of  sheep  looking  out  of  Cock  Lane,  like  intruders,  but  the  prin- 
cipal reminiscence  of  former  days  is  hay  and  straw,  and  the 
advertisements  of  butcher-tools,  cattle-medicine,  &c ;  besides 
advertisements  of  two  lost  children.  I  took  the  pains  to  count 
the  parish  vagrants,  posted  as  having  deserted  their  families,  and 
found  the  number  thirty-one.  All  this  end  of  town  is  old,  black, 
and  profoundly  suggestive.  The  smell  is  peculiar,  and  was 
doubtless  known  to  Shakspeare  and  Bunyan. 

The  strawberries  are  very  plenty  and  very  large,  and  the 
English  way  is  to  serve  them  in  the  hulls,  and  eat  them  out  of 
hand,  dipping  in  powdered  sugar. 

I  heard  Dean  Trench  read  prayers  at  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  saio  him  preach  in  a  surplice  and  scarlet  hood.  He  is  a 
robust,  hale,  good-looking  Englishman,  with  much  of  that  "  holy- 
tone  "  which  belongs  to  all  readers  here. 

The  funerals  are  solemn  mockery.  The  hearse  is  surmounted 
with  immense  plumes  or  bunches,  as  big  as  a  man,  and  I  have 
seen  a  dozen  persons  in  black,  perched  on  the  top,  driving  full 
tilt  to  act  as  mutes.  I  can't  get  over  the  horse-flesh  of  Hyde 
Park.  I  never  saw  such  blood,  condition,  and  grooming.  In  the 
streets  one  sees  the  biggest  and  the  least  horses  in  the  world. 


'&&' 


London,  June  29,  185Y. 
I  have  heard  the  wonderful  Spurgeon.     I  am  told  the  eflTort 


1857.  243 

was  feeble,  for  him.     He  has  none  of  those  captivating  intonations 
which  we  remember  in  Siimmerfield  and  others  ;  neither  should 
I  judge  him  to  have  any  pathos.     His  voice  is  incomparable,  and 
perfect  for  immense  power,  sweetness,  and  naturalness.     His 
pronunciation  is  admirable,  with  the  never-failing  English  eyther, 
knowledge,  wroth,  &c.   Though  very  like  his  likenesses,  he  becomes 
almost  handsome  when  animated.     His  gesture  is  sparine-  and 
gentlemanlike.     I  detect  no  affectation.     The  tremendous  virtue 
of  his  elocution  is  in  outcry,  sarcasm,  and  menace,  and  his  voice 
improves  as  it  grows  louder.     I  seriously  think  his  voice  the 
great  attraction.     His  prayers  were  concise  and  solemn ;  a  shade 
too  metaphoric.     His  short  exposition  was  so-so  in  matter,  but 
well-delivered.     He  preceded  his  sermon  by  a  shot  at   Lord 
Lyndhurst's  late  remarks  on  the  obscene  Print  Bill,  and  said : 
"  Holywell  Street  had  at  length  found  an  advocate  in  West- 
minster Palace."     He  requested  the  people  in  the  gallery  (there 
are  three  one  over  another,)  not  to  lean  forward.     He  said  you 
could  tell  a  Dissenter  in  church,  by  his  sitting  down  before  the 
hymn  was  over.     During  the  sermon  he  described  broken-down 
preachers,  spitting  blood,-  going  to  the  continent  and  travelling 
at  other  people's  expense.     This  did  not  please  me,  for 

"  Who  e'er  felt  the  halter  draw, 
With  good  opinion  of  the  law  ?  " 

He   told   a  very  funny  story  of  a  minister  with  a  rich  wife. 
He  was  very  severe  on  the  establishment,  and  rather  intimated 
that  the  gospel  was  very  little  preached.     In  this  part  of  the 
discourse,  he  preached  himself.     Notwithstanding  all  this  and 
his   dreadful   onslaught  on  written  sermons,  I  think  his  work 
here  matter  of  the  greatest  thankfulness.     He  preaches  a  pure 
gospel,  in  the  most  uncompromising  manner,  with  directness, 
power,  and  faithfulness ;    and   he  preaches   it  to  hundreds  of 
thousands,  to  beggars  and  princes.     I  am  at  a  loss  to  say  what 
they  come  for.     They  seem  to  be  led  of  God.  ■  All  strangers 
go.     Some  of  the  nobility  are  always  there.     Church  ministers 
abound  in  every  assembly.     I  ought  to  have  said  there  is  nothing 
that  savours  of  the  rude  or  illiterate.     Such  a  building  I  would 
beg  a  year  to  have  in  New  York,  for  some  stentor.     It  is  the 
beau-ideal,  being  the  theatre  of  Surrey  Gardens,  where  Jullien 
lias  his  concerts.     It  will  hold  ten  thousand  seated.     Every  aisle 
and  corner  was  filled  by  a  dense  mass  of  standing  persons  num- 
bering perhaps  a  thousand.     The  attention  was  unbroken.     What 
struck  me,  was  the  total  absence  of  the  ill-dressed  classes.     A 
person  behind  me  pointed  out  actors,  Waterloo  officers,  noble- 
men, &c.     Old  Hundred  by  about  ten  thousand  voices  was  really 
congregational   singing.     His   sermon  was  fifty  minutes,  Ezek. 


244  DTJEING   HIS    SECOND   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

xxxvi,  37 — on  the  connexion  of  prayer  Avilh  blessings.  1.  Fact. 
2.  Reasons.  The  first  head  was  admirable ;  as  scriptural, 
simple,  chaste,  direct,  winning,  and  full  of  Christ,  as  one  could 
wish.  Only  I  wondered  all  the  while  why  it  drew  the  masses 
so.  Then  he  began  to  suffer  with  the  terrible  heat ;  said  so  ; 
and  evidently  lost  his  strength  of  body  and  mind.  The  appli- 
cation was  common-place,  but  his  felicitous  language  and  glorious 
voice  will  carry  along  any  thing.  I  am  persuaded  he  seeks  to 
save  souls,  and  believe  that  he  is  as  much  blessed  to  that  end, 
as  any  man  of  our  day.  My  childish  recollections  of  Larned, 
represent  him  as  much  such  a  speaker.  Spurgeon  is  a  blended 
likeness  of  Prof.  Atwater,  and  Mr.  Bartine,  the  JNIethodist.  His 
eyes  are  disproportion  ally  small.     In  many  points  of  assurance, 

dogmatism,  conceit,  and  sarcasm,  he  reminds  one  of  ,  to 

whom  he  is  greatly  superior  in  gentlemanlike  bearing  and 
absence  of  nasal  twang,  while  he  falls  far  below  him  in  learning, 
original  illustration,  and  I  think  inventive  genius.  But  Spur- 
geon preaches  the  blessed  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

You  know  my  passion  for  London  :  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  get  away,  though  the  feeling  of  heat  is  as  great  as  it  would 
be  at  New"  York,  wdiile  the  mercury  is  about  77°.  Drives  into 
the  environs  are  very  sweet.  All  the  banks  of  Thames  are  lovely. 
No  words  can  describe  the  verdure,  the  cottages,  the  roses,  the 
green  lanes,  the  field-j)aths,  the  hay-making,  the  parks. 

The  thoughts  are  very  serious  which  one  has  amidst  the 
most  favourable  circumstances,  in  a  foreign  land.  I  trust  they 
are  not  without  spiritual  profit.  My  friends  at  home  are  cer- 
tainly not  less  in  my  mind.  The  feeling  of  being  so  much  a 
truant  is  very  oppressive  to  me  at  times.  After  all,  I  would  a 
thousand  times  rather  be  at  home. 

The  speakers  whom  I  heard  in  the  House  of  Commons,  were 
the  Attorney-General,  Mr.  Henley,  (a  fine,  blunt  John  Bull,) 
Mr.  Collier,  (a  fine  orator,)  and  Mr.  Rolt.  As  I  never  heard 
Randolph  say  more  than  one  word,  viz.,  "  Palgrave,"  so  all  1 
ever  heard  Palmerston  say,  is  :  "  Because  they  (the  Proctors) 
are  to  be  swept  from  the  earth."  I  was  mightily  struck  with 
the  gentlemanly  tone  of  the  debate,  and  the  subdued  and  delicate 
mamier  in  wiiich  adverse  opinion  w'as  stated,  even  wdien  the  argu- 
ment was  point-blank  in  opposition. 

This  was  the  day  for  our  visit  to  the  Crystal  Palace.  It  is 
far  nobler  than  the  original  one,  forty-four  feet  higher,  and  with 
three  transepts.  As  it  takes  a  volume  to  describe  it,  I  will  bring 
that  with  me,  for  little  can  be  done  in  a  letter.  The  park  and 
gardens  and  fountains  are  on  prodigious  scale.  Even  within  the 
building  every  sort  of  tropical  tree  and  plant  is  growing,  and 


1857.  245 

there  is  almost  as  mucli  vegetable  matter  as  any  thing  else. 
Landscape  gardening  is  producing  its  chef  d'oeuvre  without.  In 
a  wild  part  of  the  grounds,  you  have  models  of  life  size,  and 
in  appropriate  surroundings,  of  all  the  hideous  creatures  of  the 
early  formations,  pterodactylus,  hyloeosaurus,  ichthyosaurus  and 
all.  On  our  way,  E.  stopped  me  and  said  :  "  O  look  what  a 
noble  little  boy  !  "  We  presently  found  it  was  Prince  Arthur, 
who,  with  two  sisters,  was  viewing  the  palace.  We  heard 
two  excellent  orchestral  concerts,  stayed  all  day,  and  all  for  a 
shilling.  The  pleasantest  thing  was  the  great  number  of  the 
lower  class.  On  reaching  lodgings,  I  found  cards  of  Messrs. 
Dallas,  Senr.  and  Junr.,  [the  American  Minister  and  son,]  and 
a  letter  from  the  Earl  of  Waldegrave,  expressing  regret  that  his 
son  was  not  in  town.^ 

I  have  seen  all  the  Inns  of  Court,  and  of  the  Inns  of  Chan- 
cery, Clement's  Clifford's,  Furnival's,  Thavie's,  and  Staple. 
Strand  Inn  is  pulled  down.  Barnard's  I  cannot  find.  The  only 
remaining  ones  of  the  nine,  Lyon's  and  New  Inn,  I  will  look 
for.  With  Christ's  Hospital  some  of  these  are  my  flivourite 
spots.  Some  say  the  very  first  wool-staplers  of  London  lived 
at  what  is  now  Staple  Inn.  Such  an  antiquity  would  not  abide 
a  year  in  New  Yoi'k.  Even  in  London  such  cool,  moist,  monas- 
tic spaces  are  preserved  only  by  belonging  to  guilds  or  other 
corporations. 

London,  July  3,  1857. 
The  House  of  Lords  is  superb,  but  bad  for  hearing.  Lords 
appear  in  morning-dress — many  with  hats  on ;  some  lounging, 
and  one  asleep.  Law  Reform  was  up.  I  was  glad  to  "hear 
Brougham  at  length.  He  is  erect,  and  agile,  though  very  gray. 
The  manner  of  a  vehement  old  preacher.  Able  and  emphatic. 
Lord  Chancellor  Cranworth  spoke,  leaving  the  woolsack.  His 
voice  and  manner  that  of  the  late  President  Maxwell,  [of  Vir- 
ginia.] Lord  Eitzwilliam  spoke ;  tall,  thin,  quakerish,  hat  over 
eyes.  I  afterwards  saw  him  canter  off  on  a  spirited  horse,  brought 
by  a  groom  in  white  livery ;  the  Earl  is  75.  Lord  Campbell 
spoke.  Without  his  [Judge's]  wig,  looks  bluff  and  hearty ;  dark 
hair,  baldish ;  age  76.  Afterwards  they  went  into  committee, 
Redesdale  in  the  chair.     I  also  heard  him  speak.     Then  came  on 

^  The  son  of  the  Earl  is  the  Hon.  and  Rev,  Samuel  Waldegrave,  now 
canon  of  Salisbury,  and  author  of  several  excellent  religious  works.  Of  one 
of  these — "  New  Testament  Millenarianism  " — Dr.  Alexander  gave  a  synop- 
sis in  the  Repertory,  July,  1856.  Mr.  Waldegrave's  book  has  many 
acknowledgments  of  the  value  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander's  "  Isaiah,"  and 
some  letters  passed  between  the  two  authors. 


246  DTJEixa  nis  second  yisit  to  eueope. 

a  second  reading  of  Lord  Campbell's  bill  about  immoral  publica- 
tions.    He  spoke  with  much  animation.     Lord  Lyndhurst  made 
a   few  remarks.     He   looks   young  when  sitting,  with  hat  on, 
having  a  youthful  wig  ;  but  when  he  walks,  his  spindling,  failing 
shanks,  betray  85  years.    I  had  pointed   out  to  me  the  Duke 
of  Argyle  ;    red  head,  slender,  strutting  ;    fine  forehead.     Lord 
Nelson  rather  foppish.     Lord  Shaftesbury  youngish  and  graceful. 
Lord  Wensleydale  (Park)  very  burly  and  strong.     I  heard  some 
very  poor  speaking.     The  general  look  of  the  Lords  reminded 
me  of  Virginia  gentlemen  ;  quite  so  in  manner  ;  but  more  neat- 
ness of  dress,  though  not  more  simplicity,  in  most.     The  fine 
hale  condition  of  so  many  old  Lords,  speaks  well  for  English 
climate,  dinners,  sports,  and  general  habits.     The  law-lords  have 
no  easy  times.     After  a  long  day  on  the  bench,  Campbell  comes 
to  the  Lords'  and  makes  speeches ;  he  has  no  Scotch  accent,  of 
which  Brougham  has  much.     Shaftesbury  is  50.     His  son,  Lord 
Ashley,  is  in  the  House  of  Commons.     S.  is  the  great  philan- 
thropist of  the  aristocracy.     I  have  never  been  in  Parliament, 
without  hearing  America  mentioned.     In  connexion  with  law- 
reform,  it  is  always  honourably.     The  Lord  Chancellor,  Lynd- 
hurst, Brougham,  Campbell,  and  Fitzwilliam,  all  agree  in  urging 
simpler  forms.     They  are  now  hammering  at  complications  of 
the  mortgage.     Contrary  to  the  genius  of  English  law,  they 
seek  to  make  the  transfer  of  real  estate  as  easy  as  the  transfer 
of  bank-stock.     I  saw  two  bishops,  both  in  and  out  of  rig.     Their 
undress  is  nobly  beautiful ;  w^ith  their  robes  and  lawn  they  look 
like  Falstaff  in  the  buck-basket.     Lord  Ellenborough  made  a 
speech  of  some  length  on  India.     He  is  6Q  ;  tall  and  stout,  heavy 
voice,  more  than  the  usual  stammer,  little  of  the  peculiar  tin- 
pan,  palatal  utterance,  which  makes  Granville  resemble  the  lower 
classes.     It  appears  to  be  quite  the  thing  for  members  to  go 
home  on  horseback. 

We  went  to  Albert  Smith's  Ascent  of  Mont  Blanc,  Picca- 
dilly. It  lasted  two  hours,  and  was  a  union  of  first-rate  paint- 
ing with  irresistible  humour.  Indeed,  I  never  heard  any  thing 
so  comic  as  his  songs  and  dialogues  "  up  the  Rhine." 

Smith  is  one  of  the  Punch  set.  The  entertainment  is  modish, 
the  rooms  elegant. 

London,  July  6,  ISSY. 

At  6^  yesterday  I  sought  out  Baptist  W.  Noel's  chapel  in 
John  Street,  near  Gray's  Inn.  As  I  approached  I  heard  a  man 
say  it  was  "  ordinance  day,"  a  dissenting  phrase,  which  I  hap- 
pened  to  understand.     The  chapel   is  old   and   old-fashioned ; 


1857.  247 

showing  ^Yllat  tlie  Eanstead  Court  Tabernacle    may  have  been 
copied  from.     Galleries  on  all  four  sides,  and  very  wide ;  seats 
under  the  gallery  lengthwise ;    pulpit  high;  vestry-end  thrown 
in  by  moving  a  partition  ;  full  house  of  plain  but  earnest  people. 
Precentor  gave  out  hymns  and  notices.     Mr.  Noel  is  a  thin-faced 
pale,  refined,  American-looking  man.     I  recognize  the  incompar,- 
able  elocution  which  I  admired  so  much  in  '51.     I  also  perceived 
afresh  that  the  higher  you  go  in  society  here,  the  more  the  talk 
is  like  that  of   educated  men  at  home ;  say  of  Charleston.     I 
don't  say  Boston,  because  of  the  Yankee  hens,  and  dootij,  and 
stoodent;    nor  yet  of  Virginia,  because  of  the  E — phobia,  as 
Dr.  Eush  used  to  call  it.     Otherwise,  it  is  more  like  Virginia. 
He  used  no  notes,  and  in  an  hour's  preaching  never  broke  into 
any  intonations  wdiich  would  sound  wrong  if  he  had  been  speaking 
to  three  people,  by  his  fireside.     He  was  on  Matt.  xxv.  25 — 29, 
the  Institution.     It  was  simple  and  chaste,  but  scholarly  ;  deeply 
interesting  and  even  delicious,  but  not  impassioned ;  no  flmcy, 
no  illustration  ;  eminently  didactic  and  parenetic.     Altogether  I 
must  place  it  among  the  most  pleasing,  useful,  and  holy  discourses 
I  ever  heard.     He  made  a  bold  declaration  of  free-communion. 

Brighton,  Jidy  13,  185*7. 
Brighton  itself  is  a  large  place,  with  much  elegance  of  struc- 
ture, and  all  the  appliances  of  sea-bathing.     The  air  is  like  New- 
port.    Just  before  our  windows  (Pier  Hotel)  is  a  drive  frequented 
by   ceaseless  processions  of  gentry  in  every  kind  of  vehicle, 
ladies  with  grooms,  donkeys,  goat-carriages,  foot-folk,  and  just 
beyond,  still  very  near  us,  the   sea-beach,  with  rows    of    the 
machines  out  of  which  they  bathe.     The  surf  is  much  less  than 
at  Newport.     There  are  innumerable  children  w\ading  in  the  low 
tide.     One  pleasant  thing  is  the  total  absence  of  that  glare  which 
prevails  on  our  beach.     The  streets,  moreover,  are  watered  with 
such  English  faithfulness,  that  there  is  no  dust.     Eemember  it 
is  not  the  "season"    at   Brighton.     That   begins   in  October. 
Walking  and  driving  on  the  beach  are  here  in  their  perfection. 
The  parade  is  three  miles.     The  high  banks  are  paved  and  pali- 
saded, so  as  to  be  charming.     A  pier,  highly  ornamented,  juts 
out  into  the  sea,  on  the  widened  end  of  which  a  band  of  music 
plays  in  the  evening.     So  gay  and  brilliant  a  spectacle  I  never 
saw  out  of   Paris.     I  no  longer  wonder  at  the  popularity  of 
Brighton,  nor  at  the  fondness  of  George  IV.  for  it.     The  stone 
and  brick  buildings  give  a  look  of  permanence,  wanting  ni  our 

^  A  church  in  Philadelphia,  built  for  Independents,  but  afterwards  the 
Seventh  Presbyterian. 


248  DUKiNG  HIS  seco:jsD  visit  to  eueope. 

summer-resorts.  It  is  a  wonder  Brigliton  is  not  always  full  of 
people,  but  they  go  by  thousands  to  the  continent.  England  is 
over-peopled,  and  they  flee  from  one  another.  Watering  places 
at  homo  compromise  them.  As  Albert  Smith  says  of  Baden- 
Baden,  "  all  the  English  get  up  from  the  table  at  once,  because 
each  one  is  afraid  he  shall  make  a  blunder,  and  each  one  wants 
to  be  a  greater  swell  than  the  others." 

The  beautiful  downs,  or  wavy  hills,  which  mark  all  the  coast, 
afford  charming  eminences,  and  the  perfect  roads  tempt  to  drives, 
especially  as  villages,  plantations,  and  meadows  with  ancient 
hedges,  are  numerous.  The  high,  solid  drive  for  miles,  on  the 
brink,  is  totally  novel  and  the  etfect  is  surprising.  Long  streets 
and  squares  are  built  up  uniformly  with  the  cream-coloured 
"  composition  "  fronts,  which  bulge  out  so  as  to  afford  window- 
views  both  ways.  The  beach  is  divided  into  inclined  planes  of 
perfect  smoothness,  with  low  partitions.  Here  the  machines  are. 
The  old  granny  who  waits,  assists  the  practitioner,  who  is  under 
cover  till  the  instant  of  dashing  into  deep  water.  There  is  noth- 
ing of  the  social  bathing  and  aquatic  fracas  which  makes  much 
of  the  fun  in  America.  It  is  a  separate,  exclusive,  Anglican 
immersion.  Brighthelmstone,  which  is  the  full  Anglo-Saxon 
name,  was  a  British  settlement.  Flemish  men  settled  here  800 
years  ago.  It  became  famous  as  a  resort  about  100  years 
ago.  See  Madame  d'Arblay  for  later  popularity.  In  ^fadame's 
day  hoops  were  worn,  as  again  now.  George  IV.  came  here  in 
1782,  and  this  made  Brighton.  It  is  confidently  said  that  the 
high  paved  promenade  is  the  finest  in  the  world.  So  much  does 
uniform  building  prevail  that  whole  rows  look  like  palaces, 
and  it  resembles  Swiss  or  Erench  architecture.  The  Downs 
extend  fifty  or  sixty  miles.  Their  exposures  show  pure  chalk, 
and  like  all  hills  of  chalk,  they  are  beautifully  rounded  and 
covered  with  fine,  close,  velvet  turf.  The  great  peculiarity 
of  these  hills  is  the  graceful  serpentine  curve  formed  by  their 
contour,  and  the  plush  surfiice  of  short  grass  which  precisely 
resembles  a  fine  rug  in  its  feel. 

We  took  a  drive  on  the  10th  to  the  Devil's  Dyke,  five  miles. 
The  sea  was  almost  always  in  view  as  we  climbed  from  one 
graceful  ascent  to  another.  As  if  by  special  order,  a  sky-lark 
was  scarcely  ever  out  of  hearing,  though  often  out  of  sight. 
We  would  hear  the  laughing,  ecstatic  song,  long  before  we  could 
descry  the  tiny  creature  as  he  looked.  Then  he  would  come 
into  view,  mounting  higher  and  yet  higher,  and  drifting  a  little 
adown  the  wind,  so  as  to  get  befbre  us,  but  often  just  overhead, 
in  a  passion  of  joy,  fainter  and  fainter  to  the  ear,  and  dashed  to 
pieces  by  the  wind,  till  at  length  with  circles  lessening  every 


1857.  249 

moment  he  would  drop  down  to  the  earth.  When  we  reached 
the  summit,  where  there  is  an  inn,  the  sudden  view  was  amazing. 
You  are  astonished  that  a  few  hundred  feet  should  open  such  an 
expanse.  Before  us  is  the  whole  Weald  of  Sussex,  a  plaui  100 
miles  by  40,  like  the  parterres  of  a  garden.  With  the  naked 
eye  we  saw  the  isle  of  Wight.  They  tell  us  that  sixty  churches 
are  in  sight.  I  cannot  express  the  thronging  suggestions.  In 
some  degree  of  purity,  from  all  these  churches  has  for  centurie^ 
ascended  the  song  "Thou  art  the  King  of  glory,  O  Christ ! 
It  was  beauty  rather  than  sublimity,  though  even  the  sublime 
was  caused  by  extent,  and  by  the  wide  prospect  of  the  Channel 
from  Beachy  Head  to  Portsmouth.  ^ 

The  little  hamlet  of  Stanmer  is  the  prettiest  about  Brighton. 
The  old  houses  of  the  peasants  are  absolutely  hidden  with  run- 
ning plants  and  flowering  shrubs.  On  one  we  saw  currants 
trained  to  run  even  over  the  roof,  and  bearing  red  fruit  there. 
You  will  judge  from  the  length  of  my  twaddle,  that  we  are  en- 
gaged in  the  "dolcefar  oiienie.  We  have  the  delightful  prospect 
of  Mr.  Stewart's'  company  all  through  Scotland,  Germany,  and 
Switzerland.     This  is  matter  of  great  thankfulness. 

Yentnor,  Isle  of  Wight,  July  11,  1857. 
The  resemblance  between  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  Staten  Island 
is  very  striking ;  but  the  parts  of  the  isle  which  we  have  seen, 
are  beyond  any  word-picturing.     To   say  that  the   fields   and 
woods  are  of  a  soft  green,  all  moist  and  pure,  and  without  any 
mixture  of  Hiding  or  decay,  even  now  in  the  dog-days,  would  be 
oniy  to  say  that  it  is  England.     But  Wight  has  very  peculiar 
features      The  north  and  south  parts  are  unlike ;  the  north  being 
all  garden  and  the  south  broken  and  wild.     For  ten  miles  from 
Ryde,  southward,  every  route  was  as  beautiful  as  any  park  or 
pleasure-o-round.     The  roads  were,  of  course,  hard  and  smooth  ; 
but  they  were  also  hedged,  and  ever  winding,  and  ever  changing 
level  and  ever  and  anon  entering  some  quaint  village  or  hamlet, 
or  brino-ing  us  suddenly  in  view  of  the  sea.     We  passed  the  church 
and  rectory  of  Legh  Richmond.     No  exaggeration  need  be  feared 
as  to  the  cottage-life ;  no  fancy  of  yours,  however  melodmmatic, 
could  make  a  picture  to   exceed  these  one-story,  old,  thatched 
dwellino-s,   half   hidden   in   creepers,   and    parti-coloured   with 
flowers.'^   The   romance  of  hill,  dale,  copse,  glen,  cliff,  spring, 
dark   shady  lane,  and   look-out  to  the  sea,  cannot  be  carried 

'  The  Rev.  Charles  S.  Stewart,  who  had  joined  our  travellers  in  London, 
and  whose  kind  attentions  and  agreeable  society  are  frequently  and  attec- 
tionately  referred  to  in  many  letters. 
VOL.  II. 11* 


250  DLTEma  nis  second  visit  to  eueope. 

further.  The  fields,  as  Emerson  says,  look  as  if  finished  with 
the  pencil,  rather  than  the  plough.  In  considering  the  scenery  of 
this  back  part  of  the  island  it  occurs  to  me  that  its  exemplifies 
the  production  of  great  effects  by  combination  of  few  elements ; 
as  the  ancient  Greek  painter  had,  they  say,  but  three  colours  on 
his  palette.  In  this  little  corner  of  a  little  island,  effects  are.  pro- 
duced which  are  really  Alpine;  as  if  the  Creator,  in  his  over- 
flowinoj  bounty,  had  determined  to  show  his  child  on  a  small 
scale,  how  he  sometimes  works  on  a  large  one. 

We  visited  the  smallest  church  in  England,  if  not  in  the 
world,  called  of  old  St.  Lawrence-under-tVuth.  Till  a  late 
enlargement,  it  was  25x12. 

On  the  16th  INIr.  Stewart  and  I  determined  to  circumnavigate 
the  island — a  sail  of  about  70  miles.  In  order  to  commence  it, 
however,  we  must  needs  go  thirteen  miles  to  Ryde.  At  1 1  we 
went  on  board  a  small  steamer  and  proceeded  westward.  The 
compaiiy  was  genteel.  I  soon  cottoned  to  an  Anglican  clergy- 
man, who  cheered  our  whole  voyage  by  his  clever  and  witty  talk. 
We  had  a  capital  view  of  Osborne  House,  Norris  Castle,  (the  seat 
of  Bell— "Life  in  London,")  Hurst  Castle,  Lymington,  Yar- 
mouth, &c.  Where  the  island  begins  to  turn  southward,  the 
scene  becomes  very  remarkable.  The  chalk  cliffs  are  cut  straight 
up  and  down,  and  assume  fantastic  contours  and  colours,  like 
cornices,  like  walls,  like  mantels,  like  tapestries,  like  ruled  music- 
lines  for  giants.  The  streaks  of  ore,  in  and  near  Alum  Bay 
and  the  Needles,  are  of  many  hues,  and  the  formations  unlike  any 
thing  I  ever  beheld.  The  Needles  are  exactly  like  monstrous 
icebergs,  and  they,  with  the  rocks,  present  a  spectacle  not  only 
interesting  but  sublime.  Ventnor  showed  nobly  on  the  terraced 
cliffs  of  the  south  point,  but  it  is  too  fresh  and  American-looking 
to  compare  with  such  thatched,  hedged,  embosomed  spots  as 
Bowchurch  or  Godshill.  We  made  our  periplus  in  4  hours  30 
minutes. 

Next  day  we  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Legh  Richmond's  place, 
Brading.  We  saw  his  church,  and  the  grave  of  Jane,  "  the 
Young  Cottager,"  and  then  by  a  delightful  drive  over  high  com- 
manding downs,  to  Arreton,  where  we  saw  another  old  church, 
and  the  grave  of  "  the  Dairyman's  Daughter."  We  also  called 
at  her  cottage,  now  occupied  by  her  nephew,  and  saw  her  Bible, 
&c.  After  dinner  we  went  to  tea  at  Mrs.  Pelham's,  by  her  kind 
invitation.  Her  grounds  join  her  brother-in-law's.  Lord  Yar- 
borough's,  and  we  strayed  over  the  whole— an  earthly  Paradise, 
which  only  great  wealth  can  produce.  Here  she  introduced  us 
to  her  pastor,  the  Rev.  Charles  Livingston,  rector  of  the  tiny 
church.     Mrs.   Pelham  is  a  grand-daughter  of  the  duchess  of 


1857.  251 

Manchester,  and  cousin  of  Lord  John  Eiissell  and  of  the  duchess 
of  Wellington.  Mr.  Livingston  lives  in  a  superb  place  on  an 
ornamented  cliff,  commanding  the  sea.  It  gave  him  pleasure  to 
hear  of  his  relatives  in  America ;  and  he  several  times  related 
the  story  of  his  ancestor  of  the  Kirk  of  Shotts.  lie  spent  a 
long  evening  at  our  lodgings,  and  awaited  our  stage-coach  at  the 
avenue  of  his  house  to  pronounce  a  blessing  on  us. 

Some  of  the  best  descriptions  of  the  scenery  of  the  isle  are 
in  Richmond's  three  tracts.  For  example,  in  the  "  Negro  Ser- 
vant "  he  paints  a  series  of  scenes,  which  we  instantly  recognize, 
though  he  does  not  name  them.  They  are  the  Down  between 
Allerton  and  Newport,  the  vale  of  the  Medina,  the  Solert,  South- 
ampton, and  Alum  Bay.  I  shall  never  hear  the  name  of  the  Isle 
of  Wight  without  a  thrill  of  recollections,  nor  without  gratitude 
for  having  been  allowed  so  leisurely  and  thorough  a  survey. 
Moreover,  there  my  cough  seemed  to  be  suspended,  if  not 
ended. 

Paris,  July  24,  1857. 

I  am  overwhelmed  with  the  greatness  of  the  changes  in  Paris, 
[since  1851.]  The  mere  extension  of  the  rue  de  Rivoli,  with 
rows  of  palatial  edifices,  is  but  a  part.  Entire  boulevards  have 
been  opened,  with  names  gratifying  to  the  Emperor,  as  B.  de 
Strasbourg,  B.  de  Sebastopol,  &c.  Two  grand  objects  are  plainly 
in  view,  the  holding  Paris  as  a  great  walled  encampment,  and 
the  filling  of  the  people  to  the  brim  with  amusement.  Without 
a  nocturnal  drive  no  one  comprehends  Paris.  The  world  has  no 
such  turn-out  of  population ;  no  word  but  siuarming  gives  any 
idea  of  it.  As  we  approached  the  Boulevards,  where  the  great 
cafes  seem  one  complex  of  glass,  mirrors,  and  light,  the  rows  on 
the  broad  pavements  were  often  ten,  twenty,  perhaps  thirty  deep. 
Among  these  thousands,  we  heard  nothing  like  outcry,  observed 
no  rudeness,  and  detected  no  signs  of  drunkenness.  People  drive 
out  after  dinner,  and  the  stream  of  carriage-lamps  continues  till 
midnight. 

Mr.  Stewart  visited  the  Emperor  at  Plombieres,  and  was 
received  by  him  in  such  a  manner  as  would  have  been  impossible 
at  Paris  ;  dining,  walking,  and  chatting  with  him  for  three  hours, 
with  every  mark  of  sincere  friendship  and  the  absence  of  all 
ceremony.^ 

Macon,  (Saone  et  Loire,)  July  28,  ISSY. 
Here  w^e  are,  having  come  at  one  stretch  (from  Paris)  275 
miles.     This,  and  the  region  we  have  passed  lately,  is  the  country 

^  The  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart  had  known  and  befriended  the  Emperor  during 
his  stay  in  the  United  States,  in  his  early  career. 


252  DUEING   HIS    SECOND   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

of  the  filmed  Burgimdy  wine.  "  Corn  and  wine  "  are  given  to 
these  plains  in  abundance.  The  country  wine  is  weaker  than 
cider,  and  more  refreshing.  I  never  saw  a  town  of  uglier  houses. 
In  no  instance  do  we  see  any  flowers,  or  plants,  trained  over  the 
doors  and  windows.  Apricots  and  figs  are  by  bushels,  and  the 
country  wine  is  without  charge.  The  people  seem  quiet,  innocu- 
ous, and  stolid — that  is  not  precisely  the  word — unambitious  and 
uninquiring.  On  this  blazing  day  I  look  everywhere  for  what 
we  call  a  shade-tree  ;  I  see  nothing  but  the  stiff  rows  of  poplars, 
and  these  in  places  where  there  are  no  houses.  There  is  a 
promenade,  with  shadeless  trees  and  no  grass. 

Points  observable  in  our  rapid  tour  yesterday  :  All  champaign 
country  for  200  miles.  No  cottages,  no  barns,  no  lanes,  or  cross 
roads,  no  divisions,  no  groves,  and  almost  no  beasts  of  burden, 
except  the  human  ones.  Women  universally  the  majority  of 
workers  in  the  harvests.  Country  fertile,  thoroughly  tilled,  and 
pleasing  for  a  first  view,  but  unutterably  monotonous.  ^  People 
seem  quiet,  like  so  many  sheep.  In  a  few  instances  I  descried  little 
edifices,  which  I  have  no  doubt  were  Protestant  temi^les,  and  the 
sight  was  affecting.  A  little  bread  and  a  little  wine  seem  to  be 
the  fare  of  the  peasantry,  who  are  universally  temperate.  Cha- 
lons-sur-Saone  is  a  fine  town,  the  Cabillonum  of  Csesar ;  it  is 
known  to  have  been  visited  by  Augustus,  Constantine,  Attila, 
and  the  Saracens. 

Geneva,  Juhj  29 — August  6,  1857. 
Delightful  place  ;  one  can't  help  breathing  the  air  of  Protes- 
tantism Imd  freedom.  The  lake  and  environs  and  mountains 
are  as  lovely  as  Kousseau,  Cooper,  and  Byron  have  described. 
I  drove  to  Dr.  IVIalan's,  at  Vendoeuvre,  a  beautiful  hamlet.  The 
venerable  man  was  sitting  with  his  wife  and  daughter.  At  the 
Bergues  I  found  Dr.  Tyng,  returning  from  Palestine.  What  a 
pitv  that  the  very  best  descriptions  of  the  Leman  and  its  shores 
are  in  Ptousseau's  worst  work  !  There  are  few  places  I  ever  saw 
in  which  I  could  more  willingly  reside.  Shops,  libraries,  &c., 
are  abundant ;  there  is  the  best  of  Protestant  society  and  preach- 
ing ;  schools  numerous  and  good ;  mild  winters  and  luscious 
fruits  ;  neighbourhood  of  Paris,  the  Rhine,  and  Italy  ;  a  perfect 
laissez-faire  as  to  the  way  in  which  you  shall  live. 

Dr.  Malan  said :  "  Most  of  your  countrymen  have  what  I 
call  the  American  venom— they  want  to  feel  before  they  believe." 
For  a  place  of  its  size,  Geneva  has  an  air  of  polite  letters  and 
refined  art,  which  reminds  one  of  Athens.  Like  Athens  it  is 
also  a  resort  for  many  nations.  We  had  a  beautiful  view  of 
Mont  Blanc  from  Dr.  Malan's,  and  afterwards  from  Col.  Tron- 


185T.  25 


o 


chin's  beautiful  place.  On  a  steamboat  excursion  around  the 
lake  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  William  Turrettini,  lineal  de- 
scendant of  the  great  three ;  he  is  an  eminent  lawyer  and  legis- 
lator, and  a  pious,  orthodox  man.  The  arch-duchess  ]\Iarie  of 
Russia  was  on  board,  with  forty-five  in  party ;  a  handsome 
woman,  with  a  handsome  daughter. 

On  Sunday  I  heard  Dr.  Malan ;  who  is  certainly  eloquent, 
though  he  evidently  speaks  without  the  least  preparation.  The 
congregation  was  about  eighty.  At  seven  we  had  a  service  in 
our  own  room,  which  was  very  delightful.  Dr.  Tyng  expounded 
John  xxi.  The  present  government  of  Geneva  is  radical,  Fazy 
being  President.  They  favour  Papists.  Protestant  and  Popish 
interests  are  about  in  equilibrio.  At  the  treaty  of  Turin, 
Geneva  obtained  increase  of  territory,  but  with  it  an  accession 
of  Papists.  The  Sabbath  is  much  profaned  here ;  for  an  age  the 
elections  of  the  Canton  have  been  held  in  the  cathedral  on  a 
Sunday.  There  is  a  Greek  chapel  here,  entirely  for  the  con- 
venience of  a  sister  of  the  late  Emperor  Nicholas.  The  princess 
goes  there  on  Sunday,  for  some  formal  cause,  and  then  rapidly 
drives  to  one  of  the  French  churches. 

Geneva  is  full  of  old  covered  alleys  or  passages,  running  clear 
through  piles  of  buildings.  They  probably  have  some  connexion 
with  the  defences  of  other  times.  One  finds  a  remarkable 
number  of  ancient  noble  houses  degraded  into  factories  and 
dwellings  for  the  poor.  They  are  too  massive  to  be  pulled 
down,  as  would  be  done  in  the  United  States.  I  found  one  this 
morning,  of  grand  proportions,  with  a  defaced  blazonry  over  the 
door.  No  one  could  tell  me  what  it  was  formerly,  (it  is  now  an 
iron  warehouse,)  but  a  little  street  back  of  it,  named  la  rue  de 
vieux  college,  reveals  the  story. 

I  have  been  at  the  cathedral,  and  once  more  saw  the  canopy 
under  which  Farel,  Calvin,  and  Knox  preached.  They  also  have 
Calvin's  professional  chair.  I  suppose  no  place  of  its  size  has 
half  as  many  book-shops  as  Geneva,  and  1  have  never  seen  a 
place  so  stocked  with  beautiful  prints  and  engravings.  The 
truffles  of  all  this  region  of  the  Rhone  are  fine,  succulent,  and 
savoury.  Every  variety  of  fruits  in  market ;  mulberries,  im- 
mense yellow  and  crimson  gages,  strawberries,  raspberries,  pears, 
plums,  apricots,  and  such  potatoes  as  rival  Ireland  ;  sold  chiefly 
by  a  poor,  withered-looking  set  of  brown  women,  sitting  on  the 
ground,  many  with  goitres,  and  though  in  this  Alpine  land, 
devoid  of  rosy  freshness  and  all  grace.  At  our  breakfast  we 
have  honey,  black  cherries,  and  very  large  figs. 

Geneva  is  a  sweet  home-like  place,  which  I  am  sorry  to  think 
I  shall  never  see  ao-ain. 


254  DTJKING   HIS    SECOND   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

Berne,  August  7,  185Y. 
It  is  surprising  how  many  persons  speak  English,  and  how 
many  Russians  we  meet.  The  Bernese  are  far  better  looking  as 
a  people  than  the  Genevese.  Among  the  latter,  even. the  young 
women  look  haggard  and  withered.  Here  there  is  much  of  the 
blonde  character,  which  belongs  to  the  better  sort  of  Germans. 
Berne  is  a  strange,  solid,  grotesque,  middle-age  place,  built  so 
mountainously  that  nothing  but  an  earthquake  could  well  alter 
it.     The  view  of  the  Oberland  Alps  is  very  fine  in  good  weather. 


IntePvLaken,  August  9 — 20,  1857. 

Interlaken  lies  between  the  lakes  Thun  and  Brienz.  Never 
since  Niagara  have  my  descriptive  talents  been  more  tasked  and 
baffled.  The  village  combines  every  thing,  both  old  and  new, 
which  the  most  romantic  fancy  could  demand  in  Swiss  architec- 
ture. The  streets  crooked,  the  houses  tumbled  about  with  all 
lines  but  straight  ones,  in  a  way  to  drive  a  Philadelphian  mad, 
the  eaves  overhanging,  stones  on  the  roofs,  every  chraracteristic 
wdiich  we  see  in  the  stone  villages.  All  this  in  a  little  circular 
basin  quite  surrounded  by  irregular  mountains,  with  the  Jungfrau 
in  full  sight  from  our  windows.  This,  as  the  most  ravishing  spot 
in  Switzerland,  has  been  seized  on  by  the  English.  In  the  height 
of  the  season,  I  reckon  there  are  two  thousand  of  them  here.  I 
sit  and  muse  with  a  sort  of  childish  admiration  at  these  great 
and  lovely  works  of  God,  now  half-veiled  with  clouds  and  mists, 
the  fantastic  changes  of  which  make  a  new  picture  every  minute. 
The  thought  of  my  dear  and  honoured  father's  pleasure  in  such 
sights,  often  comes  to  me ;  he  sees  better  than  these — perhaps 
these  also.  The  hour  at  which  I  write,  allowing  for  longitude, 
is  that  of  morning  service  in  our  church,  a  season  which  I  always 
remember  with  a  sense  of  communion.  Our  Sabbaths  abroad 
have  been  memorable,  and  not  the  lesp  so  for  the  mingling  of 
pages  from  God's  two  great  records.  I  have  just  read  the  whole 
of  Ezra,  hard  by  the  Jungfrau. 

Eor  the  first  time  (August  11)  I  heard  a  band  of  Swiss  girls 
sing  Alpine  songs,  with  that  peculiar  falsetto  voice  which  is  called 
yodling.  It  was  sweet,  wild,  and  in  such  surroundings,  delightful. 
I  cannot  think  there  is  any  more  lovely  place  than  this  on  the  face 
of  the  earth ;  a  vale,  a  river,  two  lakes,  a  wall  of  mountains,  snow 
Alps  beyond,  English  shops,  society  and  service,  clear  air  and 
luxurious  accommodation.  A  trip  on  horseback  into  the  Ober- 
land gave  me  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  snow-peaks,  mountain 
paths,  avalanches,  alp-horns,  singing-girls,  ranz-des-vaches,  cas- 
cades, &c.     The  cow-bells  of  the  innumerable  cattle  are  large 


185T.  255 

and  musical,  and  every  cow  has  one,  so  that  the  sound  while  they 
graze  is  peculiar. 

Baden-Bade.v,  August  23 — 31,  185Y. 

I  never  dreamed  of  such  a  Vanity-Fair.  The  Champs  Elysees 
afford  no  such  concentration  of  trees,  lamps,  dresses,  music, 
crowds,  and  fashion  as  the  promenade  before  the  Conversations- 
Saal  here ;  all  in  full  dress ;  a  ball-room  out  of  doors,  and  the 
numbers  1,000  to  3,000 ;  nothing  heard  but  French.  The  waters 
are  about  160°  Fahrenheit. 

The  Anglicans  keep  up  service  here,  and  in  a  Roman  Catholic 
church.  When  I  entered  the  door,  I  thought  I  had  been  mis- 
directed. The  epistle  and  gospel  our  British  brethren  must  always 
read  at  the  altar ;  and  here  the  two  parsons  had  the  regular 
thing,  with  all  its  mantel-furniture,  candles,  and  framed  papers, 
more  tawdry  than  usual.  While  I  say  this,  I  must  do  honour  to 
the  English  for  everywhere  keeping  up  the  service  of  God,  and 
for  the  frequency  and  decorum  of  their  attendance.  How  pro- 
found and  distressing  is  my  impression  of  the  irreligion  of  these 
countries  !  No  Sabbath  and  apparently  no  grace  !  The  boors 
are  so  ground  to  the  earth,  that  they  look  like  slaves.  Blessed 
Americans,  sua  si  bona  norint!  I  am  refreshed  by  a  handful  of 
precious  German  tracts,  (some  by  Ryle,)  which  Dr.  Marriott, 
of  Basle,  sets  forth.  That  hot  but  sincere  man  does  much  good  ; 
and  among  these  epicures  and  Sadducees  (Phil.  iii.  18, 19)  every 
thing  is  notable,  that  tends  towards  the  saving  of  the  soul.  Wo 
is  me,  if  I  seek  it  not  more  zealously  on  return.  A  series  of 
tracts  in  large  print,  by  old  Andrew  Read,  entitled  "  Cottage 
Tracts,  or  Christ's  Welcome  to  all  comers,"  is  very  fine. 

You  must  consult  Sir  Francis  Head,^  or  some  of  the  guide- 
books, about  Baden-Baden.  I  had  no  idea  of  the  grand  scale  on 
which  every  thing  is  conducted.  It  is  a  lap  of  earth  among  high, 
near,  and  round  hills,  which  are  cut  into  innumerable  walks  and 
drives.  The  water  is  drunk  hot  as  well  as  used  externally.  But 
the  great  thing  is  raving,  idolatrous,  expensive  pleasure.  The 
princes  of  all  the  continental  states  are  to  be  seen  here  during 
the  season.  Every  moment  we  look  for  the  king  of  Flanders, 
and  a  cloth  is  already  laid  for  his  feet.  People  suffer  as  much 
with  heat  as  in  America. 

Our  windows  are  just  beside  the  front  door,  so  we  see  royalty 
[king  of  Belgians]  whenever  he  goes  or  comes.  The  king  is  a 
good-looking  old  gentleman ;  he  is  well  made  up  with  black  wig, 
but  no  whiskers  or  moustache ;  full  suit  of  black,  an  orange 
something  under  his  waistcoat.     Legs  a  little  shaky.     In  the 

^  "Bubbles  from  the  Brunnen  of  Xassau." 


256  DUEmG   HIS    SECOND   YISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

afternoon  a  coach  and  four  postilions,  footman  and  outriding 
groom,  drove  up.  Two  ladies  in  white  muslin  ^ot  out.  The 
king  descends — grand  uncovering  and  bowing.  lie  ascends  the 
coach,  leaving  one  of  the  ladies.  These  are  the  princesses  of 
Prussia,  who  have  a  summer-house  here.  The  king  travels 
incog.,  as  Count  d' Ardennes;  his  suite  consists  of  seventeen  per 
sons. 

The  gamhling-scene  at  the  Conversation  Hall  is  very  stirring. 
A  woman  very  eager  and  prominent,  booking  her  profit  and  loss. 
Mothers  showing  boys  and  girls  how  to  stake.  The  roulette- 
table  is  just  such  as  I  have  seen  in  my  childhood,  with  sweat- 
cloth,  &c. 

In  Switzerland  I  thought  much  of  Wordsworth's  poetry  con- 
cerning it,  and  of  Scott's  Anne  of  Geierstein.  On  the  Rhine  I 
consider  Byron's  stanzas  descriptive  of  the  same  better  than  any 
painting.  Goethe  often  occurs  to  me.  People  get  to  be  great 
polyglots  here.  I  often  hear  the  same  person  speak  three  lan- 
guages in  as  many  minutes.  The  African  servant  of  a  Russian 
j)rince  has  just  been  talking  fluently  under  our  window  in  Ger- 
nian,  Italian,  and  French ;  he  says  he  is  from  Central  Africa. 
The  princess  Helena  of  Russia  is  here,  and  the  Emperor  is  to 
visit  a  camp  at  Stuttgart  next  month.  We  have  had  the  best 
instrumental  music  I  ever  heard,  from  the  band  of  the  28th 
regiment  of  Austria,  now  at  the  neighbouring  city  of  Rastadt. 

The  more  I  view  Baden,  the  more  I  see  its  walks  to  be  inex- 
haustible ;  they  wind  around  all  parts  of  the  valley,  and  creep 
up  the  numerous  hill-sides,  with  clumps  of  trees,  gravel-paths, 
parterres  of  flowers,  and  well-placed  seats.  The  Old  Castle  has 
a  grand  site,  and  is  a  fine  ruin.  Every  thing  Mrs.  Radcliffe 
could  desire  is  afforded  by  this  crumbling,  ivy-covered  castle. 
So  long  has  it  been  vacant  that  numerous  trees  of  the  largest 
size  grow  within  the  walls.  On  our  way  home,  we  went  to  the 
New  Castle,  such  only  by  comparison.  It  surmounts  the  acro- 
polis of  the  town.  The  old  margraves  of  the  Palatinate  lived 
on  the  high  place  till  1471,  when  the  modern  Schloss  was  built. 
It  was  burnt  by  the  French  in  1689,  but  restored.  The  dungeons 
are  horrible  ;  subterranean  vaults  of  great  extent  through  which 
we  groped  with  candles.  The  contrast  to  the  inhabited  parts  is 
striking  ;  here  the  rooms  are  brilliant.  The  young  couple  now" 
reigning  live  chiefly  at  Carlsruhe,  but  their  private  apartments 
here  are  very  comfortable.  The  Orphan  House  of  Baden  was 
founded  by  Stultz,  the  famous  London  tailor,  who  was  made  a 
nobleman  by  his  prince. 


1857.  257 

Heidelberg,  September  1,  1857. 
The  woman  who  accompanied  us  as  guide  through  tliis  castle 
of  castles,  and  who  spoke  good  English,  was  a  most  agreeable 
and  accomplished  person;  thoroughly  versed  in  history  and 
literature,  and  quite  intimate  with  Bryant  and  Longfellow.  I 
heard  some  capital  singing  at  St.  Peter's,  and  a  very  legal  sermon 
from  a  very  young  divine.  The  Church  is  Reformed.  Here  we 
have  more  Germanisms  of  the  table— raw  meat,  rolled  boiled 
pudding  of  meat,  sourkrout,  fish  after  flesh,  sausage  and  omelette. 
I  went  to  the  University  and  Library  before  breakfast. 

Frankfort  on  the  Main,  Sejytember  2 — 4,  1857. 
This  is  a  noble  city.  The  Zeil  is  a  broad  street,  resembling 
Broadway  in  cheerfulness,  brilliancy,  business,  and  crowd  ;  it  is 
wider,  and  the  trottoirs  twice  as  wdde.  ^Ye  are  next  door  to 
Eothschild's  town  residence.  Statues  in  honour  of  Goethe  and 
of  the  three  inventors  of  printing  adorn  our  neighbourhood.  To 
crown  all  it  is  full  Frankfort-tair ;  and  the  booths,  shows,  and 
tantarara,  beat  all  since  I  saw  Greenwich  Fair  in  185L_ 

The  deep  gloom  apparent  everywhere  in  the  English,  about 
the  Indian  mutinies,  awakens  my  sincere  sympathy.  How  I  wish 
America  could  at  least  speak  some  words  of  neighbourly  cheer 
on  this  great  occasion ;  it  w^ould  be  profoundly  felt  by  the  mag- 
nanimous part  of  the  British  people. 

The  Romer  is  a  famous  old  building.  Here  the  Senatus  was 
sitting,  with  men  in  scarlet  at  the  door.  I  did  homage  to  the 
mao-istracy  of  a  great  city-commonwealth.  I  saw  the  Golden 
Bufl  of  1356,  the  fundamental  law  of  the  German  empire ;  it  is 
in  Latin,  and  perfectly  well  kept.  The  banqueting-hall  is  sur- 
rounded by  full-lengths  of  fifty-two  emperors,  the  last  filling  the 
last  niche.  Since  Car.  V.  they  are  portraits.  In  this  Kaisersaal 
the  new  emperor  was  always  feasted,  while  princes  waited  on 
him.     Some  Prescott  or  Motley  is  wanting  for  this  subject. 

Every  available  broad  street  and  area  is  occupied  by  the 
(Michaelmas)  fair ;  miles  of  shops,  booths,  and  stalls.  The  Jews 
predominate  in  this  Eeast  of  Tabernacles.  Imagine  twenty 
Bear-markets,  all  in  one,  with  tents  and  sheds  for  the  stalls,  and 
twenty  different  languages.  I  suppose  it  is  chiefly  for  exchanges, 
and  for  giving  and  receiving  orders ;  but  it  is  for  more  stirrmg 
than  the  got-up  AYorld's  Eairs,  and  has  antiquarian  relations  of 
high  interest.  1  see  many  Russian  advertisements  and  stores  of 
Russian  books.  The  show  and  mountebank  department  is 
extremely  broad.  In  the  presence  of  many  a  oniles  gloriosus, 
order  was  perfect.  Every  thing,  all  over  town,  came  to  a  dead 
stop   at   9   30'.     I  went  to  see  the  house  of  Goethe's  birth,  a 


258  DCKIXG   HIS    SECOND   VISIT   TO   ErEOPE. 

truly  2:>atrician  old  pile,  seven  windows  across.  The  earlier 
parts  of  his  autobiography  and  his  Wilhelm  Meister  came  very 
strongly  before  me.  I  see  hair-dye  advertised  of  "  a  celebrated 
American  chemist,  Dr.  Wanylliam."  I  have  seen  forged  labels 
for  wares  in  immistakable  German-English.  American  gum- 
shoes (Gummijschiihen)  grace  the  fair.  I  traversed  the  Jews' 
Quarter.  Formerly  this  old  Jewry  was  locked  up  every  night. 
The  houses  are  tall  and  rickety,  mysteriously  dark  and  judaically 
dirty,  and  seem  squinting  and  nodding  towards  one  another. 
There  are  six  thousand  Jews  in  Frankfort.  We  have  suffered 
much  and  unexpectedly  from  heat,  but  never  from  musquitoes, 
bugs,  beetles,  or  those  dire-voiced  crickets,  katydids,  and  night- 
frogs,  which  have  been  my  dread  from  my  infancy  ;  the  dryness 
and  wholesomeness  of  the  night  air  is  likewise  creditable.  But 
O  how  I  long  for  home,  and  for  the  glory  of  all  lands ! 

At  the  Public  Library  (200,000  volumes)  saw  Marchesi's 
fine  statue  of  Goethe,  also  Cranach's  portrait  of  Luther  and 
wife,  some  autographs  of  Luther,  and  a  pair  of  his  shoes.  Then 
around  the  former  ramparts  where  now  are  fine  avenues,  to  the 
Bethmann  Museum,  and  saw  Dannecker's  Ariadne.  In  the  even- 
ing, during  a  direct  interview,  a  young  lady  of  St.  Gall,  aged  21, 
and  of  very  aood  manners,  addressed  Mr.  Stewart  in  German 
and  Italian,  and  conversed  with  me  in  French.  She  is  going  to 
Hamburg,  and  then  to  England.  Her  stature  is  eight  feet  five 
inches.  She  is  attending  the  Fair.  The  giantess  is  pretty- 
behaved,  and  shook  hands  at  parting. 

WiESBADEX,  September  5 — 7,  1857. 

First  impressions  of  Wiesbaden  are  favourable.  It  is  natu- 
rally less  picturesque  than  Baden,  and  improved  in  a  less  pic- 
turesque manner,  but  with  more  elaborate  beauty.  The  strong 
points  are  a  dozen  boiling  springs,  covered  promenades  near 
them,  Kursaal  with  cafes,  billiards,  rouge-et-noir,  le  roulette,  and 
immense  colonnades,  the  court  within  shady  and  with  fine  jets, — 
behind  is  a  grand  promenade,  where  thousands  take  cofiee  and 
ices  to  the  almost  perpetual  sound  of  music  ;  an  artificial  lake  with 
fountain,  rustic  bridges,  innumerable  seats  in  numerous  groves, 
walks  v,inding  and  climbing  up  into  the  eminences,  a  capital  grand 
ducal  residence,  extraordinary  cheapness  of  living.  The  com- 
pany is  evidently  two  or  three  carats  coarser  than  that  of  Baden. 

Church  in  the  Ducal  Palace,  a  temporary  chapel  ofi*  the  riding 
school.  No  sermon,  but  1  enjoyed  the  service  greatly.  A  large 
congregation  ;  among  them  Sir  Frederick  Thesiger.  At  dinner 
to-day  (10th)  ten  Presbyterians  of  us  sat  together.  We  are 
commonly  waked  by  a  hymn-tune.     When  I  rise  I  see  the  Koch- 


1857.  259 

brunnen  steaming  about  fifteen  yards  off.     The  procession  of  all 
nations,  holding  tall  glass  cups  of  hot  Avater,  which  many  carry 
half  a  mile,  is  amusino^.     They  do  it  all  to  music.     So  perpetu- 
ally are  we  amidst  English  talk,  that  I  must  needs,  from  my 
imitative  ear,  pick  up  some  brogues,  though  I  shall  not  intention- 
ally carry  home   any  English   pronunciations.     We   are   now 
eating  the  first  ripe  grapes.     The  white  are  like  the  Chasselas 
of  our  hot-houses,  but  with  a  more  rich  raisin  flavour.     The  carp 
of  the  hot  brooks  are  fine  and  healthy,  testifying  well  of  the 
bath;    they  serve  it  after  the  meat.     The  Germans  have  no 
moral  scruples  connected  with  gambling.     The  toy-shops  contain 
little  roulette-tables  and   sweat-cloths,  which  enter  the   youth 
early  in  the  sport.     Probably  I  have  had  a  better  glimpse  of 
continental,  and  especially  German  life,  than  I  could  have  had  in 
months  at  ordinary  places.     My  good  opinion  of  the  Germans, 
in  all  social  relations,  is  much  increased,  and  I  think  far  more 
highly  of  their  comforts  than  I  did.     As  to  religion,  I  have  little 
means  of  judging.     The  negative  marks  are  very  black.     The 
gambling  here  is  more  eager,  hot,  and  vulgar  than  at  Baden. 
The  order  of   these  countries,  in  things  which  they  choose  to 
order,  is  marvellous.     Every  street-noise  is  prevented,  and  every 
inn  and  cafe  is  cleared  at  the  "  police-hour."     All  the  gambling 
regulations  are  by  Ducal  authority  ;  not  only  a  tarif  of  cabs  is 
settled  by  the  same  power,  but  every  donkey-ride  to  this  or  that 
place  is  rated,  and  the  very  order  of  dances  in  the  balls  at  the 
Kursaal  is  prescribed  in  a  placard,  signed  by  the  Grand  Duke's 
Commissary.    Accidents  to  vehicles  are  severely  punished.    Pla- 
cards prescribe  where  wheels  shall  be  locked  and  paces  slackened. 
The  Grand  Duchy  contains  about  360,000  souls,  half  Romanists. 
Of  Langenschovalbach  nothing  can  be  added  to  Sir  Francis 
Head's  "  Bubbles  " — a  work  full  of  entertainment,  and  less  exag- 
gerative than  I  once  thought.     I  refer  you  to  it  for  this,  Schlangen- 
bad,  and  Wiesbaden,  as  no  one  can  say  as  well  w^hat  he  has  said. 
The  Springs  are  powerfully  chalybeate,  delightfully  cool,  and 
sparkling  with  effervescence.     The  taste  is  far  more  winning 
than  that  of  the  Congress  Spring.     The  baths  are  celebrated  for 
their  tonic  character.     The  L.^is  much  what  the  Red  Sweet 
[of  Virginia]  would  be,  if  artificially  improved.     The  surround- 
ing eminences  strongly  resemble  American  forests.     The  bath 
is  incomparable  for  velvet  softness,  and  the  water  is  exported  as 
a  cosmetic. 

CoBLENz,  September  9—11,  ISSY. 
We  had  a  very  fine  afternoon  from  Biebrich,  doAm  the  Rhine, 
to  this  place.     The  four  hours  were  of  almost  painfully  exquisite 


260 


DUEING   HIS    SECOND   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 


interest :  the  earth  has  no  such  shores.  Our  windows  face  the 
Gibraltar  of  the  Rhine,  Ehrenbreitstein.  This  fortress  has  cost 
five  millions  of  dollars  in  its  reconstruction.  It  can  hold  100,000 
men.  I  arose  in  the  night,  and  saw  the  waning  moon  in  the 
high  heaven,  and  Orion  just  ascending  obliquely  over  the  grand 
fortress.  Byron's  descriptions  of  Rhine  scenery  are  to  me 
l)eyond  any  lengthened  detail  in  prose,  or  even  any  painting. 
What  a  power  of  true  poetry  !  I  feel  it  here  on  the  spot.^  See 
his  stanzas  beginning  "  On  the  banks,"  &c.,  and  "  The  castled 
crag  of  Drackenfels."  We  have  visited  the  famous  castle  of 
Stolzenfels,  (Rock  of  Pride,)  now  a  summer  residence  of  the 
King  of  Prussia.  Thence  to  Ems,  the  most  ancient  of  the  aristo- 
cratic Brunnen  of  Nassau.  The  water  is  somewhat  warmer  than 
the  Red  Sweet. 


^  The  coincidence  of  the  place  and  the  subject,  induces  me  to  insert  on 
this  page  the  following  lines  by  the  late  Professor  J,  Addison  Alexander, 
which  were  "  literally  composed,  though  certainly  not  written,  on  recrossing 
the  Rhine  at  Coblcnz,  after  an  absence  of  several  months  to  the  eastward." 
This  was  during  "a  sleepless  night  in  the  month  of  March,"  1834. 

STAGE-COACH    STANZAS. 


I  hail  thee  as  an  ancient  friend, 

And  as  I  cross  thy  line, 
My  democratic  knee  I  bend. 

To  greet  thee,  royal  Rhine. 

The  day  and  hour,  when  last  we  met, 
Come  o'er  me  like  a  dream. 

And  then  I  saw,  I  see  thee  yet. 
Unchanging,  changeful  stream. 

The  rush  of  waters  o'er  thy  bed 
Distracts  my  labouring  brain — 

Forever  dying,  never  dead — 
Buried  and  born  again. 

What  is  the  secret  of  thy  life  ? 

What  holds  thy  channel  fast, 
Amidst  the  elemental  strife. 

The  earthquake  and  the  blast  ? 

Why  is  it  that  the  swollen  tide. 
Which  ever  northward  sweeps, 

So  warily  on  either  side 

Its  well-marked  station  keeps  ? 

Why  dost  thou  not,  old  Rhine,  at  length 
Break  thy  ignoble  chains. 

And  mustering  all  thy  mighty  strength 
Submerge  the  adjacent  plains  ? 


Thou  art  a  king  among  the  streams. 
Thou  river  deep  and  broad. 

In  regal  pomp  thy  surface  gleams — 
To  man,  but  not  to  God. 

Thy  full  deep  current  bold  and  proud, 

In  his  almighty  view, 
Is  but  the  sprinkling  of  a  cloud, 

A  drop  of  morning  dew. 

Though  thou  shouldst  empty  every  rill, 
And  drain  the  neighbouring  land, 

Thy  giant-Avaters  could  not  fill 
the  hollow  of  his  hand. 

The  same  almighty  hand,  that  drives 

Thy  current  to  the  sea. 
Can  well  control  it,  when  it  strives, 

And  struggles  to  be  free. 

And  if  at  times  that  hand  grows  slack, 
And  lets  thee  do  thy  worst ; 

He  brings  thee  still  at  pleasure  back, 
And  rules  thee  as  at  first. 

So  when  I  bend  my  stubborn  knee, 
To  greet  thee,  royal  Rhine, 

I  render  homage,  not  to  thee, 
But  to  thv  Lord  and  mine. 


1857.  261 

Cologne,  September  11,  1857. 

On  the  steamer  from  Coblenz  was  Macaulay,  (soon  to  be 
Baron,)  and  I  fear  I  studied  him  more  than  the  Rhine.  He 
greatly  resembles  Inman's  portrait :  stout,  broad,  and  stalwart, 
but  pale  and  slightly  flaccid  in  cheeks ;  bluish  gray  eye ;  gray 
hair  and  whisker  ;  blue  surtout  and  cap,  plaid  waistcoat  and  gray 
trousers ;  about  five  feet  six ;  gold  spectacles  near  the  end  of  nose. 
Very  arch  but  subdued  smile  sometimes.  An  ugly  but  distingue 
man  with  him  who  read  "  Cicero  de  Republica,"  while  the  Baron 
read  a  vellum-covered  Italian  book,  seemingly  a  history,  inter- 
changeably with  Murray,  [Guide-book.]  They  ha-ha'd  cheerily 
over  some  of  Cicero's  passages.  Only  one  or  two  points  at- 
tracted Macaulay;  such  as  the  Seven  Mountains,  Drackenfels 
and  the  Dom.  I  expected  talent  in  his  face,  but  I  was  delighted 
with  its  moral  traits,  tranquil  content,  gentleness,  and  benignity 
— the  last  finely  displayed  towards  an  infimt.  I  am  sure  he 
would  break  into  tears  sooner  than  into  laughter.* 

Four  hundred  men  are  working  on  the  cathedral.  The  row 
of  windows  presented  by  the  late  King  of  Bavaria  is  superb,  but 
nothing  to  the  ancient  glass.  Then  to  St.  Ursula's  and  the  oste- 
ology of  the  11,000  virgins — to  St.  Peter's  to  see  Rubens's  great 
painting  of  St.  Peter's  death.  In  all  these  churches,  as  through- 
out Prussia,  the  children  (Catholic)  are  gathered  every  morning 
before  school  hours.  I  heard  a  thousand  sing  German  hymns  at 
Coblenz.     This  tells  powerfully  on  the  next  generation. 

Spa,  September  12,  1857. 
We  have  to-day  passed  from  Prussia  to  Belgium.  The 
country  is  beautiful ;  unlike  all  we  have  recently  seen,  and  very 
like  England  in  hedgerows  and  verdure,  especially  about  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  which  lies  in  a  picturesque  way  beside  a  charming  hill. 
S]3a  is  very  famous  in  old  Chesterfieldian  times,  and  is  still 
visited  by  kings,  dowagers,  and  vieux  moustaches.  The  water  is 
carried  all  over  Europe,  as  containing  the  most  extraordinary 
mixture  of  iron  and  effervescence.  The  Germans  are  great 
tipplers  of  mineral  waters,  and  those  of  other  Springs  are  brought 
to  each  and  sold  in  bottles.  All  agree  in  giving  the  palm  to  the 
genuine  Seltzer-water  from  Niederselters,  in  Nassau.  It  is  a 
most  refreshing  beverage,  greatly  useful  to  pulmonary  patients. 
It  is  used  at  tables  to  correct  the  acid  of  the  white  wines.  I 
have  seen  no  one  at  table  yet  who  did  not  drink  wine,  but  I  have 
seen  no  intoxication.  The  labouring  classes  are  hard  driven.  A 
chambermaid  at  Frankfort  gets  $18  a  year.     Women  are  seen 

^  Lord  Macaulay  died  Dec.  28,  1859. 


262  DUEING    HIS    SECOND   TISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

yoked  with  cows  in  the  plough.  Nine-tenths  of  hay  and  harvest 
are  carried  on  women's  heads,  and  a  horse  is  not  seen  in  one  field 
of  a  thousand.  Women  work  at  railway  excavations  in  gangs. 
These  remarks  apply  less  to  Belgium,  and  not  at  all  to  Hoi 
land.  Belgian  agriculture  has  a  noble  appearance ;  a  neatness 
like  the  English,  but  in  kind,  in  extent,  in  absence  of  cattle,  roads, 
and  division,  altogether  French.  No  spot  is  in  a  state  of  nature ; 
weeds  and  brush  quite  unknown.  Root-crops  are  predominant  at 
this  season.  I  see  a  blue  clover,  not  knowm  in  America.  A 
great  deal  of  tobacco  is  grown  on  the  Rhine,  making  good  light 
cigars.  Indian  corn  is  frequent,  but  low,  straggling,  and  with 
irregular  ears.  It  is  hard  to  think  how  large  a  portion  of  these 
crops  goes  to  the  crown.  A  crazy  bridge,  a  rutty,  rough,  or 
stony  road,  or  a  miry  spot,  I  have  not  seen,  unless  in  the  Alps. 
No  apprentice  or  field-hand  goes  from  one  hamlet  to  another, 
without  falling  under  the  municipal  argus.  The  creatures  seem 
ruddy  and  merry.  As  a  sort  of  indemnity,  the  government  offers 
numerous  public  and  accessible  pleasures ;  parks,  music,  bands 
of  singers,  illuminations,  Sunday  frolics.  The  grand  instrument, 
however,  of  subjugation  is  the  priesthood.  You  will  hear  it  said 
that  the  hold  of  Popery  on  the  masses  is  declining ;  in  my  oj^inion 
the  reverse  is  probably  true,  and  I  see  an  advance  in  six  years. 
The  priests  are  more  numerous  and  obtrusive,  the  churches  are 
fuller,  and  especially  the  rising  race  is  more  under  their  hand. 
Belgium  is  politically  liberal,  but  religiously  priest-ridden.  The 
English  service  is  performed  at  every  principal  place  by  a  regular 
chaplain  every  Sunday.  At  least  ten  thousand  persons  hear  the 
gospel  in  English,  on  the  Continent,  every  Lord's  day. 

Antwerp,  September  14 — 15,  1857. 
The  country  from  Spa  hither  through  Lou  vain  and  Mechlin, 
is  flat  but  garden-like ;  people  contstantly  dressing  the  crops 
with  spades,  hoes,  rakes,  and  the  hand.  Our  hotel  is  just  over 
from  the  great  Notre  Dame.  I  was  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  2;reat  tower,  405  feet  his-h,  when  the  bells  beaan 
to  play  before  the  stroke  of  seven ;  it  was  in  parts,  and  several 
minutes  long.  As  I  thus  stood,  in  the  dreamy  twilight,  in  the 
irregular  area  in  front  of  the  majestic  pile  and  surrounded  by 
quaint  old  gables,  I  felt  the  impression  to  be  deeper  than  even 
at  Cologne.  But  these  architectural  emotions  with  me  are  not 
religions,  as  are  those  of  Chamonix,  the  Jungfrau,  or  the  Natural 
Bridge,  [Virginia.]  This  piling  of  man's  hand  is  Babel-like.  I 
am  deadly  sick  of  popish  ceremonies  and  of  all  liturgical  aping 
of  them,  and  approximations  to  them.  Read  John  Owen  on 
Liturgies  ;  read  it ;  read  it ! 


1857.  263 

I  went  to  early  mass  in  the  cathedral ;  there  were  some 
hundreds,  as  it  is  a  jubilee  and  octave  of  the  somethhig,  with 
plenary  indulgence,  &c.  The  music  was  seraphic.  I  have  always 
thought  men's  voices  in  a  vaulted  cathedral  attained  the  musical 
acme!  The  five  aisles  came  out  well  in  the  morning  gray.  The 
nimiber  of  Rubens's  chefs  cVoeuvre  which  are  in  Antwerp  is  stun- 
ning. Though  I  had  seen  many  of  his  works,  I  really  had  never 
conceived  of  his  power  till  now.  The  Magdalene  in  his  Cruci- 
fixion is,  in  Reynolds's  judgment,  the  best  profile  extant.  In  the 
"  Doctors  in  the  Temple,"  he  has  given  likenesses  of  Luther,  Cal- 
vin, and  Erasmus,  all  fine,  and  the  first  admirable.  At  the  superb 
old  church  of  St.  Jacques  we  saw  a  funeral  and  three  masses 
all  at  once.  Different  parts  were  in  progress,  and  while  the  bell 
jingled,  a  beadle  was  trotting  us  about  and  explaining  the  pic- 
tures ;  but  whenever  a  tired  lady  took  a  gentleman's  arm,  it  was 
arrested — it  would  have  been  promenacUnr/.  There  are  ninety- 
nine  bells  in  the  great  tower,  one  of  which  it  takes  sixteen  men 

to  ring. 

At  St.  Andrew's  we  saw  the  wonderful  pulpit  of  wood- 
carving,  representing  the  calling  of  Andrew  and  Peter  from  their 
nets.  "^We  had  seen  many  such  things  and  despised  them,  but 
this  is  a  noble  piece  of  sculpture.  The  figures  are  of  life-size  ; 
the  boat  is  real ;  the  net  and  fishes  marvellous  ;  the  manner  in 
which  the  pulpit  and  stairs  are  concealed  in  rocks  and  trees  is 
most  ingenious,  and  the  expression  of  the  forms  and  fiices 
masterly.     The  whole  is  about  30x20x15  feet. 

lyfost  of  the  Walloons  understand  me  when  I  speak  German. 
The  great  fiivourite  among  their  writers  is  Hendrik  Conscience, 
who  has  ennobled  the  Flemish  tongue  as  Burns  did  the  Scotch  ; 
a  genial  story-letter  for  the  people;  a  Goldsmith  in  ease,  a 
Franklin  for  adages,  and  a  Scott  for  nationality  :  so  they  pre- 
tend. His  whole  works  are  publishing  here,  about  20  volumes, 
18mo,  being  out.  He  has  just  been  made  viceroy  of  Flanders, 
and  is  considered  as  having  given  himself  to  the  Catholic,  or 
retrograde  party. 

Bruges,  September  16,  1857. 

There  is  certainly  no  spot  so  redolent  of  grandeur  in  decay. 
Once  the  Tyre  or  New  York  of  the  continent,  it  stands  with  its 
rows  of  towering,  tottering,  ghastly  palaces  and  halls,  a  builded 
desert.  The  streets  remind  me  of  London  before  dawn.  Great- 
ness and  beauty  arc  in  these  streets.  I  would  have  missed  any 
thing  rather  than  this. 

the  region  we  have  just  passed  through  is  acknowledged  to 
be  the  most  highly  cultivated  in  Europe ;  small  properties— 700 


264  DUEINa  HIS   SECOND  VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

passed  in  18  miles — not  metaphoriccally  but  literally  tilled  like 
a  garden — hundreds  of  women  on  their  knees,  weeding  with 
the  hand. 

Brussels,  September  17 — 18,  1857. 
We  breakfasted  at  Ghent ;  saw  old  churches,  old  streets,  and 
marks  of  that  wealth  which  existed  in  Gand^  w-hen  its  great  native 
Charles  V.  said  he  could  put  all  Paris  in  his  gand,  (glove.)     To- 
morrow we  part  with  Mr.  Stewart. 

London,  September  19 — 23,  1857. 

To  get  back  to  green,  clean,  cool,  Christian  England,  is  just 
like  enchantment.  The  verdure  seemed  an  illusion,  and  "we 
were  like  them  that  dream,"  (with  words  following.')  At  the 
"  Old  Slip  "  in  Dover,  we  resumed  our  flimiliarity  with  tea, 
toast,  sole,  big  basins,  thick  towels,  soap  and.joogs  of  'ot  water. 
When  we  last  saw  the  green  meads  of  Kent,  we  undervalued 
them,  being  just  from  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  but  coming  now  from 
rich  but  russet  Flanders  and  Normandy,  where  are  no  grazing 
herds  and  flocks,  and  no  detached  cottages,  we  were  in  amaze. 

On  Sunday  (20th)  to  Mr.  Noel's,  and  heard  Mr.  Muncaster, 
of  Manchester,  a  Congregationalist,  one  of  the  clearest,  ablest, 
and  most  theologic  sermons  I  ever  heard.  The  singing  was 
delightful ;  precentor  and  [Lowell]  Masonic  plain-song.  My 
soul  was  melted  within  me  by  the  fellowship  of  so  many  un- 
mistakably devout  persons.  Mr.  Noel  sat  below  in  his  pew ; 
an  American  face  strangely  reminding  me  of  my  father's,  at 
the  age  of  forty.  Blessed  Sabbath — blessed  gospel— and  blessed 
England  still !  More  than  "  the  ten "  are  found  in  London. 
Prayers  for  Indian  brethren  very  touching,  and  infinitely  better 
than  the  "  prayer  in  War  and  Tumult," ""  which  we  have  been 
hearing.  To  get  away  from  printed  pra^^ers  and  repetitions,  is 
like  Alpine  air  after  a  chapel  full  of  torch-smell  and  incense. 
The  Dissenters  in  England  have  universally  abandoned  standing 
in  prayers,  so  far  as  I  see.  As  I  cannot  consent  to  irreverence 
in  worshipping  God,  I  am  as  frequently  an  object  of  note  as  in 
our  prayer-meetings  at  home,  where  grown  men  pray  sitting,  and 
sometimes  staring.  Two-thirds  of  the  Episcopalians  also  sit. 
The  Germans  and  Scotch  all  stand.  To  such  as  kneel  I  feel  much 
respect.     I  heard  Mr.  Noel  in  the  evening,  (Philip,  i.  23.)     Lan- 

^"Then  was  our  mouth  filled  with  laughter,  and  our  tongue  with 
singing."  "  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us ;  whereof  we  are 
glad." 

^  In  the  "Book  of  Common  Prayer." 


1857.  265 

guage  simple  but  masterly,  half  an  hour  without  a  gesture,  but 
very  be^Yitching  ;  voice  that  of  a  parlour-talk  ;  perfect  English, 
delivered  with  an  absolute  absence  of  all  alien  intonation.  In 
this  respect  he  is  a  study.  A  holy  gentleness,  with  an  almost 
death-bed  solemnity  ;  experimental,  mature,  evangelical,  and 
spiritual ;  very  fervent  towards  the  close.  No  manuscript. 
When  he  stopped,  I  was  like  Adam  with  the  angel. ^  His  dulcet 
notes  remind  me  of  the  Bruges  carillons.  I  think  Noel's  idea 
of  preaching  the  right  thing  ;  just  talking  over  the  Word.  My 
own  flxther  was  not  more  simple.  Only  deep  and  long  experience 
could  have  brewed  such  a  sermon.  The  only  man  I  ever  heard 
preach  with  so  little  clamour  was  Dr.  J.  P.  Wilson. 

After  what  I  deemed  adequate  knowledge  of  London  fog,  I . 
am  this  morning  (21st)  surprised ;  perhaps  I  ought  to  call  it 
smoke,  for  it  is  not  wet ;  it  fills  the  street  so,  that  I  see  every 
object  through  a  medium  the  colour  of  weak  rum  and  water. 
Over  the  top  of  this  fog,  the  sun  is  brightly  reflected  in  the  three- 
pair  windows  opposite.  I  record  with  feeling,  that  for  now  118 
days  I  have  not  lost  an  hour  or  a  meal  by  sickness. 

I  saw  a  young  lady  driving  a  carriage  through  the  jam  of 
High  Holborn  and  Oxford  street,  with  a  liveried  servant  by  her 
side.  The  shaded  sun  and  autumnal  temperature,  without  any 
decay  of  verdure,  are  just  the  thing  for  me.  Sun  comes  out 
fine.  I  just  missed  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  Blue  Coat  school 
and  its  900  boys.  I  was  actually  within  the  cloisters,  but  could 
get  no  ticket.  The  subject  of  one  of  the  scholar's  hexameters 
w\as  Funis  Electricus. 

After  viewing  so  many  Gothic  buildings,  I  have  this  result : 
My  interest  in  them  is  scarcely  that  of  beauty  in  form ;  it  is  the 
dim  association  of  history.  Look  at  the  matcldess  row  of  painted 
windows  in  the  south  aisle  of  Brussels  cathedral,  or  the  minute 
finish  of  Freiburg — how  intense,  how  continued,  how  widespread 
the  sentiment  which  could  produce  such  results  !  The  greatness 
of  the  mechanism  is  often  astonishing.  Above  all,  the  English 
cathedrals  are  wondrous.  Carlyle  says,  what  I  often  think  of  in 
reference  to  better  and  Christian  things  and  ages,  which  seem 
barren  from  want  of  record,  '•  greater  men  have  lived  in  England 
than  any  of  her  writers ;  and,  in  fact,  about  the  time  when  these 
writers  appeared,  the  last  of  those  was  already  gone." 

American  affairs  are  as  much  in  men's  mouths  as  Indian  ;  and 
the  comments  are  not  always  courteous.  Renew^ed  reading  of 
the  newspapers  renews  my  opinion,  that  those  who  have  only 

^  "  So  charming  left  his  voice,  that  he  a  while 

Thought  him  still  speaking,  still  stood  fixed  to  hear." 

Paradise  Lost,  VIIL 

VOL.  II. — 12 


266  DURING  HIS   SECOND   VISIT   TO   EUEOPE. 

this  way  of  judging  (that  is,  nine-tenths  of  the  English)  cannot 
but  despise  America.  The  articles  inserted  are  about  Kansas, 
Slavery,  Repudiation,  Burdell,  "Wallvcr,  and  especially  the  Mor- 
mons. NHmporte,  we  are  a  century  ahead  of  them.  The  Times 
shows  up  the  fogyism  which  has  ruined  India.  Even  now  they 
are  waked  up  to  no  real  energies  of  reparation.  Louis  Napoleon 
must  laugh  in  his  sleeve.  I  believe  no  court  in  Europe  is  so 
lullabied  with  Lord  Chamberlainism.  Large  numbers  are  per- 
petually busy  about  the  pleasures  of  the  Queen  and  Prince 
Consort. 

York,  September  24,  1857. 

We  tools:  the  Great  Northern  Railway  at  11,  and  arrived  at 
5  15' — 191  miles.  The  points  which  most  interested  me  were 
Marston  IMoor,  Newark,  and  Scrooley,  where  the  little  group 
lived  who  went  to  Holland  and  then  to  New  Plymouth.  For 
twenty  miles  around  York  all  is  flat  as  a  prairie.  Glimpses  of 
this  pure  white  Minster,  which  you  would  say  was  built  yester- 
day. But  I  am  sick  of  what  they  call  Christian  Art ;  it  is  all  an 
inferior  stage  of  progress.  This  is  the  shooting  season.  At 
every  station  hares,  grouse,  and  hampers  of  game  were  handed  in 
or  out.  The  number  of  hares  one  sees  in  the  fields  is  surprising. 
Every  day  my  provocation  increases  at  the  tone  in  which 
English  people  speak  of  and  to  Americans :  it  is  ignorantly 
j^atronizing  ;  they  think  of  our  advancement,  precisely  as  we  do 
of  that  of  Liberia. 

The  Minster  shines  with  a  sort  of  celestial  grandeur  and 
beauty  after  the  continental  cathedrals.  Tlie  east  window,  the 
chapter-house,  and  the  side-aisles  are  unique. 

Melrose,  September  25,  1857. 
We  left  York  at  nine,  and  steamed  through  Newcastle  and 
Morpeth  to  Berwick.  Here  we  left  the  main  line,  and  ran  up 
the  Tweed  to  this  place,  passing  Kelso,  an  enchanting  spot.  We 
saw  the  Abbey  with  a  glory  of  sunset  breaking  through  its  West 
window.     At  Abbotsford  we  heard  a  robin-red-breast  sing. 

Edinburgh,  September  26 — 30,  1857. 
Prince's  street,  where  we  are,  looks  right  across  the  green 
ravine  to  the  lofty  houses  of  the  Old  Town.  I  never  saw  any 
thing  more  novel  or  beautiful  than  the  play  of  thousands  of  lights 
as  seen  in  the  populous  hill-side  from  these  front  windows  of 
ours,  flinging  themselves  not  into  right  lines,  but  constellations. 
The  Sabbath  quiet  is  almost  beyond  belief.  Only  one  vehicle 
has  passed  this  house  in  the  three  hours  I  have  been  in  our 


1857.  267 

sitting-room.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  whose 
truth  abides  here,  and  who  has  made  this  the  happiest  great  city 
on  the  globe  !  We  have  had  great  comfort  by  the  way  in  read- 
ing good  tracts,  the  varieties  of  which  are  very  remarkable,  both 
inEngland  and  Scotland.  One  finds  here  much  more  frequently 
than  Avith  us,  those  views  in  print  which  were  so  much  our 
fathers'  views,  and  which  are  so  little  prominent  in  some  Old- 
School  preachers  ;  I  mean  views  combining  sovereign  freeness 
of  gospel  grace  with  inward  spirituality  and  rest  of  soul. 

On  the  Sabbath  I  heard  Dr.  Bruce  at  Free  St.  Andrew's. 
Sermon  on  Christ's  two  quellings  of  storms  in  Matt.  viii.  and 
xiv.  General  doctrine,  that  afflictions  are  ordered  not  only  to 
try  our  faith,  but  to  try  our  utmost  foith ;  in.  the  second  case, 
Jesus  let  them  go  alone.  It  was  a  profound  piece  of  experience, 
viewed  philosophically  ;  strong  meat ;  dense,  witty  at  times, 
unexpected  turns  like  Foster ;  no  elegance  of  manner,  but  im- 
mense impression.  The  prayers  were  almost  inspired.  Ah  hero 
is  the  true  Eutaxia^  without  printed  worship  !  At  2  I  went  to 
Free  St.  John's.  Strangers  (how  truly  I  comprehend*the  term  !) 
are  admitted  only  after  the  first  singing.  I  found  myself  waiting 
in  a  basement  with  about  500  others.  At  length  I  was  dragged 
through  a  narrow  passage,  and  found  myself  in  a  very  hot,  over- 
crowded house,  near  the  pulpit.  Dr.  Guthrie  was  praying.  He 
preached  from  Isai.  xliv.  22,  "  Return  unto  me,  for  I  have  re- 
deemed thee."  It  was  fifty  minutes,  but  they  passed  like  noth- 
ing. I  was  instantly  struck  by  his  strong  likeness  to  Dr.  John 
H.  Rice.  If  you  remember  him  you  have  perfectly  the  type  of 
man  he  is ;  but  then  it  is  Dr.  Rice  with  an  impetuous  freedom 
of  motion,  a  play  of  ductile  and  speaking  features,  and  an  over 
flowing  unction  of  passion  and  compassion,  which  would  carry 
home  even  one  of  my  sermons  ;  conceive  what  it  is  w^ith  his 
exuberant  diction  and  poetic  imagery.  The  best  of  all  is,  it  was 
honey  from  the  comb,  dropping,  dropping,  in  effusive  gospel 
beseeching.  I  cannot  think  Whitefield  surpassed  him  in  this. 
You  know  while  you  listen  to  his  mighty  voice,  broken  with 
sorrow,  that  he  is  overwhelmed  with  the  "  love  of  the  Spirit." 
He  has  a  colleague  and  preaches  only  in  the  afternoon.  As 
to  manner,  it  is  his  own,  but  in  general  like  Duff's,  with  as  much 
motion,  but  more  significant,  and  less  grotesque,  though  still 
ungraceful.  His  English,  moreover,  is  not  spoiled  so  much. 
The  audience  was  rapt  and  melting.  It  was  just  like  his  book,* 
all  application,  and  he  rose  to  his  height  in  the  first  sentence. 

I  disliked  the  singing  at  Dr.  Guthrie's  ;  a  choir,  with  twiddling 

^  Either  "The  Gospel  in  Ezekiel,"  or  "The  City,  its  Sins  and  Sorrows: 
a  series  of  Sermons  from  Luke  19  :  41." 


268  DUEING   HIS    SECOND   VISIT   TO   EUROPE. 

times ;  a  clear  retrocession  towards  the  way  which  is  becoming 
unsavoury  even  to  New  England.  The  singers  were  in  pews 
near  the  pulpit,  and  I  saw  an  advertisement  in  the  lobby  for  a 
tenor  singer.  They  sing  well  with  precentor  at  Free  St.  An- 
drew's. 

It  is  worth  Avhile  to  come  here  to  learn  how  a  Sabbath  may 
be  kept.  This  great  inn  (Royal  Hotel)  has  table  d'hote  at  5,  to 
give  rest  to  servants.  The  beautiful  avenues  of  the  New  Town 
are  thronged  with  grave  but  cheerful  people,  evidently  with  their 
faces  Zionward,  and  most  of  them  with  Bible  in  hand.  I  have  a 
great  desire  that  H.  should  some  day  spend  some  months  in 
Scotland  to  learn  how  to  preach,  catechize,  and  do  pastoral  duty. 
Gladly  would  I  forego  for  him  all  that  the  continent  has  to  offer, 
for  the  sake  of  this. 

In  reflecting  on  the  two  great  and  precious  sermons  of  yester- 
day, I  wonder  at  the  beautiful  diversity  of  gifts.  They  were  as 
unlike  as  an  apple  and  a  pine-apple.  I  have  no  remembrance 
of  any  preaching  so  analytically  experimental  as  Dr.  B.'s,  except 
my  own  dear  blessed  father's.  At  each  step  he  seemed  to  assume 
all  that  an  ordinary  preacher  would  have  preached,  and  to  go  on 
beyond  that.  His  prayers  were  the  same  ;  so  searching  in  con- 
fession that  I  winced,  and  so  paternal  and  pastoral  in  intercession, 
that  I  could  not  but  fancy  his  hand  feeling  all  around  and  gather- 
ing sorrows  out  of  every  heart  to  bring  before  God.  His  stern- 
ness in  no  degree  modified  the  graciousness  of  his  gospel  freedom, 
as  I  have  too  often  seen  to  be  the  case  with  rigorous  casuists  in 
America.  The  Bruces  have  been  ministers  ever  since  the  famous 
Bruce,  who  rebuked  King  James. 

Mr.  Dickson's  house  [see  p.  156]  is  a  museum  of  Sunday 
School  illustrations.  His  garret  is  filled  with  matters  from 
Palestine,  beautifully  arranged  and  with  appropriate  Scriptures. 
As  a  single  instance,  you  see  in  one  series  flasks  of  water  from 
Siloam,  and  four  other  places,  a  bunch  of  wheat  from  Zion,  and 
one  of  barley,  a  plate  of  vine-leaves,  a  pomegranate,  a  phial  of 
oil,  a  pot  of  honey  from  Jerusalem,  a  loaf,  iron  .and  copper  ore — 
then  the  passage  Deuteronomy  viii.  7 — 9.'  He  has  a  hortus- 
siccus  of  Palestine  plants  ;  minerals  picked  by  himseK,  and  400 
views,  which  he  sketched ;  enough  being  finished  in  oils  to  line 
his  back  parlour.  In  a  tour  of  two  months,  he  left  no  spot  west 
of  Jordan  without  a  sketch.  Dr.  Guthrie  is  the  link  between 
evangelical  religion  and  the  aristocracy.     People  of  all  sects  go. 

^  •'  A  land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains,  and  depths  that  spring  out 
of  valleys  and  hills ;  a  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines,  and  pomegran- 
ates ;  a  land  of  oil-olive  and  honey  ....  A  land  whose  stones  are  iron, 
and  out  of  whose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass." 


1857.  269 

Nobility  coming  down  from  London  and  stopping  here,  cannot 
pass  without  hearing  him.  They  arc  willing  to  pay  any  sum  for 
pews,  in  order  to  secure  an  occasional  hearing.  Dr.  G.  called 
on  me,  and  was  very  cordial.  Look  at  the  "  Fortunes  of  Nigel " 
and  conceive  him  telling  the  story  of  Richie  Moniplies'  brag  con- 
cerning Edinburgh  to  George  Heriot ;  telling  it  too  in  broad 
Scotch,  and  at  a  window  overlooking  the  Nor''  Loch,  or  ravine. 
Dr.  G.  tells  me  he  was  sent  in  his  youth  to  the  Sorbonne  for 
education. 

Americans  might  well  be  amused  to  consider  that  the  United 
Presbyterians,  who  joined  very  invidiously  in  the  cry  send  back 
the  moneij,  (of  the  slaveholders,)  should  now  be  the  only  body 
which  has  slaveholders  in  its  communion ;  a  fact  concerning  their 
Calabar  Mission. 

I  have  seen  twenty  times  as  much  drunkenness  here  in  a  day, 
as  in  the  wine-countries  in  ten  weeks ;  indeed  I  saw  but  one  such 
in  them,  and  he  was  only  merry. 

Edinburgh,  October  1,  185T. 

Auld  Reekie^  indeed,  but  the  sun  is  breaking  out  in  a  way 
that  is  peculiar.  I  regard  Scotland  as  the  flower  and  crown  of 
all  our  tour.  I  could  contentedly  and  profitably  have  spent  my 
whole  time  in  Britain.  Emerson  says  you  can't  see  England  in 
a  hundred  years  ;  and  I  have  often  told  Stewart  that  the  grand 
requisite  for  travelling  successfully  would  be  to  live  as  long  as 
Methuselah.  One  great  advantage  here,  is  the  short  distances. 
Much  as  you  have  read  of  the  country,  you  would  be  surprised  at 
this.  Thus  you  go  from  Liverpool  to  Manchester  in  an  hour ; 
from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow  in  an  hour  and  a  half;  and  every- 
where towns  and  other  localities,  often  famous,  follow  one  another 
with  rapidity.  Every  nook  and  brook  and  hill  and  mansion  has 
its  name,  and  in  Scotland  these  are  embalmed  in  ballads  and 
legends.  The  position  of  a  "  minister  "  here  is  high.  I  remem- 
ber something  of  similar  observance,  when  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia were  smaller,  towards  Dr.  ^lason,  Dr.  Green,  and  Dr. 
Wilson ;  but  Guthrie,  Candlish,  Bruce,  Lee,  Bonar,  Tweedie,  to 
say  nothing  of  residuaries,  are  looked  at  all  the  length  of 
Prince's  street. 

The  institution  of  the  dinner  is  potent  in  Great  Britain,  and 
Edinburgh  has  a  traditional  geniality  of  intercourse,  after  the 
day's  work  is  done.  There  is  a  free  and  happy  mingling  of 
copresbyters  here,  like  nothing  known  to  me  elsewhere.  Both 
Guthrie  and  Lee  (before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords) 

^  Scotch  for  smoky. 


270  DUEING  ni3   SECOND   VISIT  TO   ErKOPE. 

have  formally  ascribed  the  "  canny  "  character  of  the  Scotch,  not 
simply  to  their  being  trained  on  the  Scriptures,  and  to  their 
reading  Solomon,  but  particularly  to  the  custom  of  using  the 
book  of  Proverbs  as  a  reading-book.  The  Anglo-Saxon  words 
and  short  sentences,  where  books  are  rare,  made  it  the  thing  for 
the  children.  There  is  a  pious  weaver  mentioned  in  Guthrie's 
"  Gospel  in  Ezekiel  "  as  a  man  of  prayer.  The  Doctor  said  to 
us  "  this  man  prayed,  not  as  one  going  to  heaven,  but  as  one  just 
come  out  of  heaven.  He  would  sit  in  his  loom  and  super- 
intend our  education.  And  what  we  read  was  such  pith  as  '  he 
that  hateth  suretyship  is  sure,'  &c." 

The  deep,  I  may  say  awful  impression,  made  by  the  events 
in  India  in  their  religious  aspect,  is  very  observable  in  the  pray- 
ers. Generally  Scotchmen  do  not  give  free  vent  to  their  inward 
experience  in  talk.  1  hardly  ever  was  more  solemnly  wrought 
on  by  a  prayer,  than  by  Bruce's  about  this  distress  ;  and  not 
least  by  his  tender  thanksgivings  for  the  spiritual  good  already 
done  to  bereaved  and  other  suffering  persons. 

I  like  the  Free  Church  Tract  and  Book  arrangement.  They 
publish  nothing,  but  keep  up  the  machinery  of  supply  from 
all  sources,  colportage,  &c.  They  have,  for  example,  6,000 
different  tracts,  including  the  American.^ 

^  The  same  day  on  wliich  this  letter  was  written,  Dr.  Alexander,  with  his 
wife  and  child,  left  Edinburgh  for  Glasgow.  A  short  tour  in  the  highlands, 
which  was  in  their  plan,  was  prevented  by  bad  weather,  and  a  week  was 
spent  in  Glasgow  in  delightful  Christian  intercourse  with  many  of  its  princi- 
pal clergymen  and  others.  They  then  proceeded  to  Liverpool,  and  em- 
barked in  the  steamship  Baltic  for  New  York. 

It  is  no  more  than  a  proper  testimony  to  the  liberality  of  the  congrega- 
tion to  their  pastor  to  state,  that  of  the  sum  placed  by  them  at  his  com- 
mand for  this  journey,  nearly  three  thousand  dollars  remained  untouched. 


CHAPTEE    XIY. 

LETTERS    DURING    THE    REMAINDER    OF    HIS 
PASTORATE    IN    NEW    YORK. 

1857—1859. 

New  York,  October  26,  185Y. 
Through  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  we  reached  the  wharf 
ahout  5  yesterday,  and  home  about  7.     Our  passage  was  short 
for  a  return,  being  eleven  days,  but  very  rough  and  even  stormy, 
so  that  our  Avheels  were  all  but  denuded  of  paddleboxes  on  our 
arrival.     The  "Baltic"  and  her  captain  (Comstock)  are  all  that 
could  be  wished.     The  vessel  is  staunch  and  noble,  and  I  have 
seldom  had  more  sublime  emotions,  than  when  standing  on  the 
high  poop  I  watched  the  plunge  of  the  fore-parts,  and  the  succeed- 
in?  rise,  with  a  spring  and  buoyancy  of  motion  that  seemed  to 
mock  at  the  roaring  ocean.     I  caused  our  little  boy  to  observe 
how  apt  is  the  Bible  figure  Ps.  xciii.     I  preached  yesterday,  the 
first  time  since  May.^     How  deeply  grateful  we  ought  to   be, 
that  during  six  months'   absence,  no  case  of  indisposition  has 
occurred  in  our  circle  here  ;  all  alive  and  all  well ;  let  the  God 
of  our  salvation  be  exalted  !     I  was  everywhere  a  most  reluctant 
traveller,  and  drew  a  lengthening  chain.     My  own  general  health 
is  almost  robust ;  and  yet  I  have  the  same  catch  m  my  throat. 
T  had  not  seen  an  American  paper  for  a  long  time,  and  very 
seldom  at  all,  so  that  I  had  much  to  learn  on  my  arrival.     In 
our  ship's  company  of   160,  we  had  some  pleasing  characters. 
A  Major  Copeland  of  Boston  was  with  us,  returning  from  Sebas- 
topo],  (which  he  calls  Say'-vast-o'ple,)  after  contracting  to  raise 
the  sunken  ships.    I  knew  of  only  one  Englishman.    Major  VV  m. 

^  This  was  in  the  ship.  The  text  was  1  Peter  iv.  3.  On  the  next  Lord's 
day  (Nov.  1)  he  preached  to  his  own  congregation,  at  both  services,  trom 
Habakkuk  iii.  17,  18. 


272  DrEINO   THE   KEMAINDER   OF   HIS   PASTORATE. 

Preston  of  S.  C.  was  also  a  passenger.  Beyond  all  expectation, 
our  boys  were  waiting  ns,  one  having  come  from  Princeton,  and 
the  other  from  Freehold.  On  looking  at  the  papers,  I  find  my- 
self sadly  behindhand,  and  in  church-matters  quite  unable  to 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  fight.  Say  some  words  of  sincere 
kindness  from  us  both  to  our  A.  friends.  I  do  not  know  whether 
they  got  any  account  of  my  very  delightful  visit  to  their  kinsman, 
the  Rev.  Charles  Livingston,  rector  of  St.  Lawrence's,  Ventnor 
Cove,  Isle  of  Wisrht,  one  of  the  best  men  I  saw  durinsj  mv  exile. 
He  is  rather  proud  of  his  North  River  connexions,  and  asked 
numerous  questions  about  them.  Several  deaths  have  occurred 
durino;  the  six  months  ;  amonsj  them  were  Mr.  Rufus  Daven- 
port,  perhaps  our  oldest  man,  and  Mr.  James  Struthers,  who 
was  an  elder  elect,  and  so  flir  as  human  judgment  goes,  one  of 
the  most  spiritual  Christians  in  our  church.  The  people  have 
generally  returned,  and  are  in  a  promising  state,  as  to  attend- 
ance ;  1  even  hope  for  more,  as  there  is  a  marked  reviving  of 
religious  interest  during  the  six  months  of  our  absence.  It  will 
take  me  some  days  to  get  the  heavy  roll  of  the  ship  out  of  my 
brain  ;  I  don't  remember  ever  to  have  felt  it  so  much.  Palx  U 
so  it ! 

New  York,  November  3,  1837. 

I  am  glad  you  think  of  coming  this  way.  xVfter  fast-day, 
preparatory  lecture  and  communion,  (next  Sabbath,)  I  shall  feel 
a  little  more  ease  of  mind  than  now.  I  hitched  at  once  into  the 
old  rut,  Avrote  two  full  sermons  last  week,  and  have  been  hard 
at  visiting  ever  since  my  return.  I  am  fleshier  than  need  be, 
and  harder  than  my  wont,  having  roughed  it  in  all  weathers,  and 
borne  twice  as  much  fatigue  as  in  '51  ;  but  the  ring  of  irrita- 
tion, phlegm,  and  strangle  in  my  pipes  remains  much  as  before ;  I 
mean  D.  v.  to  speak,  &c.,  exactly  as  if  it  wasn't  there,  till  some- 
thing decisive  stops  me. 

November  4th. — Good  democratic  turn  in  the  election  here. 
The  new  law,  prescribing  glass  globes  for  the  ballots,  and  forbid- 
ding ticket-booths  within  150  yards,  has  wrought  much  quiet ; 
yet  our  plebs  is  very  much  in  ferment.  London  amazed  me 
more  than  ever  by  its  size,  being  a  sort  of  world.  People  of 
one  part  have  no  knowledge  of  people  in  another.  This,  how- 
ever, is  much  the  case  in  New  York.  To-day  my  walk  lay  by 
the  intersection  of  4th  and  10th  streets ;  I  suppose  thousands 
would  be  surprised  to  hear  that  these  jDarallels  meet. 

The  clergy  here  seem  all  to  be  in  good  case,  notwithstanding 
complaints  of  hard  work.  In  Scotland,  and  I  suppose  in  England 
too,  the  dinner-institution,  always  at  six,  when  work   is   over, 


185T— 1859.  273 

with  the  free,  hearty  converse  of  numerous  friends,  7ion  sine 
Baccho^  tends  to  give  a  corpulency  and  a  crimson,  which  make 
American  clerks  seem  slim  in  comparison.  Pastoral  visiting  in 
the  cities  is  less  practised  than  with  us,  but  elders'  visiting  much 
more.  Deacons  were  nearly  obsolete  at  the  Disruption ;  the 
Free  Church  has  made  a  point  of  reviving  them,  but  the  Kirk 
remains  as  before,  and  many  in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
formally  rejected  them  as  needless.  At  baptisms,  the  fathers 
stand  in  a  row,  before  the  minister ;  the  mothers  sit  in  some 
neighbouring  pew ;  the  children  are  kept  behind  the  pulpit-stair, 
or  "in  a  room  hard  by,  till  the  moment  of  affusion.  Very 
sensibly,  a  napkin  hangs  over  the  rail.  The  above  is  an  induction 
from  two  particulars.  The  reading  of  sermons  has  greatly 
increased  among  the  Scotch,  and  greatly  decreased  among  the 
Evangelicals  in  England.  Sitting  in  prayer  is  all  but  universal 
among  the  Dissenters,  and  widely  prevalent  in  the  Church,  though 
under  pretence  of  kneeling.  In  Scotland,  the  prayer  after  sermon 
is  usually  as  long  as  the  one  before,  dwelling  on  intercession,  &c. 

1s"ew  York,  November  16,  1857. 
Lonesome,  indeed,  is  this  habitation,  as  my  wife  and  children 
are  in  the  Jerseys,  and  the  dreary  easterly  rain  makes  egress 
undesirable  for  sore  throat  folks.  Natheless,  I  have  spent  most 
of  the  day  abroad,  as  the  arrears  of  visits  (occasioned  by  my 
absence)  to  cases  of  trouble  are  very  large.  If  I  had  received 
your  queries  anent  Maidenhead  during  my  first  and  longest 
sojourn  in  London-town,  I  think  I  should  have  run  down 
to  see  it,  as  many  trains  go  every  day ;  it  is  22^  miles  W.,  up 
the  Thames,  from  London  27  by  railway,  right  bank,  in  Berk- 
shire, and  in  18.51  had  3,607  population.  It  is  partly  in  Bray 
parish,  (vide  Vicar  of  ditto,)  and  partly  in  Cookham,  and  is 
reached  by  the  Great  Western  Eailway.  The  living  is  in 
diocess  of  Oxon.  It  is  one  long  street,  neat,  paved,  and  like  all 
English  towns  of  thrift,  lighted  with  gas ;  it  is  not  exactly  on 
the  river  bank,  being  on  the  Bath  Road.  It  used  to  be  called 
South  Ealington,  and  between  the  bridge  and  town  you  find  a 
relic  of  antiquity  in  almshouses  for  eight  poor  men  and  their 
wives.  The  aforementioned  bridge  has  seven  stone  arches,  and 
three  smaller  arches  of  brick  at  each  end.  The  railway  crosses 
Thames  at  Maidenhead,  by  a  magnificent  viaduct.  The  market 
is  on  Wednesday,  chiefly  for  corn.  The  scenery  just  above,  is 
beautiful.     Near  are  Cliefden,  seat  of  the  Marquis  of  Stafford, 

^  What  follows  was  in  answer  to  inquiries  I  made   of  bim,  (for  the  his- 
tory of  the  Trenton  church,)  as  to  the  town  in  England  from  wliich  the  old 
name  of  the  present  village  of  Lawrenceville  was  taken. 
VOL.  II.— 12* 


2i4:  DUEING   THE   EEiMAINDER   OF   HIS   PASTOKATE. 

and  Taplow  Court,  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Orkney.  At  the  Grey- 
hound Inn,  Charles  I.  took  leave  of  his  family.  Shortly  before 
arriving  at  Maidenhead,  you  pass  Salt  Hill,  famous  for  the  Eton 
Montem,  which  ^vas  abolished  in  1848,  and  after  clearing  the 
town,  you  go  through  Maidenhead  Thicket.  I  ought  to  say 
^laldenhithe  is  the  transition-name ;  h7/ih  or  hi/d,  as  a  termina- 
tion, denoting  a  landing,  or  accessible  bank.  My  nearest  ap- 
proach was  at  "Windsor  and  Eton,  and  I  dare  say  I  saw  it  in  both 
visits  from  the  top  of  Windsor  Castle.  Of  all  these  towns  and 
villages  in  the  valley  of  the  Thames,  the  same  general  observa- 
tions will  hold  good  ;  they  are  in  summer  embowered  in  green, 
with  a  moist  delicate  look  about  trees  and  herbage,  which  strikes 
an  American  as  peculiarly  enchanting ;  and  though  all  the  trees 
are  plantations,  they  are  so  dexterously  placed,  and  often  so 
ancient  and  cherished,  that  the  full,  round  "  bourgeoning  "  of 
their  heads  aflbrds  a  noble  relief  to  peeping  towers  and  spires. 
The  old  towns,  if  irregular,  are  romantic  and  quaint,  and  you 
see  numerous  buildings  of  which  the  pattern  at  least  is  as  old 
as  the  Conquest.  Instead  of  JSalington,  I  note  that  some  give 
Arlington  as  the  former  name.  In  the  26  of  Edward  III.  it  was, 
nevertheless,  incorporated  by  the  name  of  the  "  Fraternity  or 
Guild  of  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  Maiden  Hither  When 
coaching  or  riding  were  the  modes  of  locomotion  on  this  great 
highway  between  London  and  Bristol,  Maidenhead-thicket  was  in- 
fested by  footpads.  •  The  story  of  the  Vicar  of  Bray  (between 
Maidenhead  and  Windsor)  is  found  in  an  old  song,  and  in  Fuller  ; 
he  changed  his  religion  four  times  regno  Henry  VIII.,  Elizabeth, 
James  I.,  and  Charles  I.,  living  and  dying  "  Vicar  of  Bray." 
(For  above  valuable  facts,  we  are  indebted  to  Black's  Picturesque 
Tourist  in  England ;  Knight's  Geogr.  of  Brit.  Empire ;  and 
Hughson's  London  and  Neighbourhood,  1808,  6  vols.  8vo.) 

I  continue  to  cough,  and  begin  to  think  I  shall  as  long  as  I 
preach,  yet  I  am  well  up  in  colour,  fat  and  paunch,  cat  well,  drink 
kindly,  sleep  so-so,  and  altogether  am  in  good  case  to  retire  on 
a  pension,  turn  president,  go  to  Congress,  or  negotiate  a  loan  in 
Europe. 

New  York,  December  l4,  1857. 

I  scarcely  recover  from  the  stunning  effect  of  the  tidings.^ 

In  such  cases  the  mind  falls  back  on  former  impressions,  and  I 

find  my  ties  with  the  Doctor  closer  than  I  had  thought.     I  knew 

him  as  a  child,  and  then  on,  during  many  years,  including  my 

^  Of  the  sudden  death  of  our  mutual  friend,  one  of  the  elders  of  the 
Trenton  church,  Dr.  Francis  A.  Evving,  several  times  mentioned  ia  the  first 
volume. 


1857—1859.  2Y5 

residence  in  Trenton.  His  early  religious  experience  was  re- 
vealed to  me  in  detail. 

New  York,  January  1,  1858. 

I  and  we  wish  thee  and  thine  a  happy  New  Year  in  every 
high  and  good  sense.  There  were  sixty  murders  and  one  hang- 
ing in  this  city  in  1857.  My  motto  text  is  :  "  Thy  kingdom 
come."  I  have  been  reading  a  lately  found  account  of  Bossuet's 
last  days,  by  his  private  secretary.  It  appears  that  for  years  the 
Bible  was  his  chief  study.  His  secretary  read  the  gospel  of 
John  again  and  again  to  him,  and  the  seventeenth  chapter  sixty 
times,  when  the  bishop  was  on  his  death-bed. 

Lying,  stealing  and  bribery,  perjury,  covetousness  and  rapine, 
make  things  sometimes  look  to  me  like  some  prophetic  tableaux. 

The •  churches  are  using  terrible  blast-bellows  to  get  up 

artificial  heat  in  our  city  and  neighbourhood.  Our  light  mate- 
rials catch,  and  I  am  often  anxious  in  the  attempt  to  hold  on  our 
regular  way.  I  know  twenty  young  people,  whom  I  could 
foment  into  any  given  amount  of  excitement  in  two  weeks. 
What  amazes  me  is,  that  the  men  who  apply  these  methods,  at 
set  times,  are  at  other  times  as  little  raised  above  worldly 
thoughts  and  deeds  as  common  folks. 

New  York,  February  5,  1858. 
Yesterday  I  was  invited  to  survey  a  clerical  class  of  gymnasts, 
beating  the  air,  &c.,  under  Prof.  Langdon,  an  Englishman. 
There  were  seven,  viz.,  Drs.  Hutton,  Hitchcock,  H.  Smith,  Cham- 
bers, Cook,  Field  and  Ganz.'  It  was  funny ;  coats  off,  and  all 
together,  sometimes  so — sometimes  so.  [Here  were  outline 
sketches  of  the  postures.]  Part  of  it  would  have  answered 
Spurgeon's  description  of  a  male  dance.  They  laboured  (as  the 
Shakers  say)  for  an  hour  :  it  was  evidently  fine  exercise.  A  blind 
woman  is  playing  the  fiddle  very  well  in  the  streets ;  we  saw 
one  lead  an  orchestra  in  Switzerland.  It  is  dreadful  to  observe, 
after  all  our  glorying  contrast  of  Protestant  with  Catholic  coun- 
tries, how  deep  is  the  popular  degradation  of  London  and  Edin- 
buro-h.  Pauperism  in  our  own  cities  is  becoming  an  institution. 
The  number  of  books  in  France  on  the  subject  is  amazing.  If 
Col  well  [page  166]  had  given  us  what  he  knows  in  this  department 
of  literature,  without  his  crotchets,  he  would  have  done  great 
service.  I  am  in  great  doubt  whether  the  doctrine  against  casual 
alms  [e.  g.  at  the  door)  is  not  sacrificing  plain  scripture  to 
doubtful  theories  of  economic  science. 

^  He  afterwards  himself  practised  the  "  Langdonics." 


276  DUEIXG   THE   EEMAINDEK   OF   HIS   PASTOKATE. 

New  York,  3Iarc7i  1,  1858. 
March  comes  in  like  a  wet,  half-grown  lamb.  I  record  with 
a  sense  of  dependence  that  the  last  sign  of  my  cough  has  left 
me  for  about  three  weeks,  and  that  I  am  more  fleshy.  An  undue 
and  irregular  beating  of  the  heart,  though  lessened,  remains.  T 
am  nearly  fifty-four  years  old,  (March  13.)  In  the  serious 
retrospect  of  life,  I  see  nothing  so  dark  as  my  sins  ;  nor  did  they 
ever  seem  more  hateful.  We  admit  seven  on  examination,  and 
eight  on  certificate.  Preaching  is  assuming  a  more  prominent 
place  than  heretofore.  A  great  danger  is  lest  a  go-ahead,  joyous, 
auction-like,  unreverent  elation  take  possession  of  the  [daily] 
prayer-meetings.  Up  to"\vn  this  has  been  very  much  avoided  by 
the  lead  which  ministers  have  taken.  Did  I  write  of  visits  I  am 
paying  every  day  or  two  to  the  Eoman  Catholic  Hospital  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  ?  A  young  medical  student,  a  pay-patient, 
is  there  recovering  from  tyj)hoid  fever,  and  was  baptized  by  me. 
There  are  twelve  sisters  of  charitv,  and  120  beds.  This  vouno; 
man  has  been  nursed  in  the  best  manner  conceivable.  I  have 
seen  five  or  six  of  the  ladies,  including  the  superior.  They  have 
treated  me  with  a  very  graceful  courtesy,  and  are  altogether  a 
winning  generation.  The  tidings  of  the  revival  on  every  side 
certainly  tends  to  set  people  a-thinking  about  their  souls ;  which 
is  a  point  gained.  I  feel  it  overshadowing  my  own  mind,  and 
opening  ways  of  address  to  the  careless,  as  well  as  shutting  me 
up  to  the  most  imj^ortant  class  of  subjects.^ 

New  York,  April  2,  1858. 
I  have  generally  discredited  people  who  say  they  have  no 
time  to  write,  but  lately  I  have  been  tempted  to  plead  that  excuse. 
Though  I  have  aimed  to  keep  down  and  regulate  excitement 
among  us,  and  have  had  no  additional  service  but  an  exhortation 
on  Monday  to  such  as  seek  instruction  on  points  connected  with 
conversion,  I  perceive  such  a  degree  of  inquiry  as  has  never  met 
me  in  my  ministry.  The  number  of  declared  inquirers  is  not 
more  than  twenty-five,  and  most  of  these  have  dates  a  good  way 
back ;  but  the  feelings  of  communicants  and  the  indescribable 
tone  of  assemblies,  are  new  to  me.  From  the  start  I  have  held 
myself  ready  to  adapt  measures  to  emerging  demands  ;  I  how- 
ever feel  glad  I  have  pursued  the  repressive  method  ;  which,  by 

^  About  this  time  lie  wrote  "  The  Revival  and  its  Lessons,"  a  series  of 
eleven  tracts,  published  by  Randolph.  A  large  number  of  these  "were  dis- 
tributed at  the  police  stations.  The  one  addressed  to  firemen  was  sent  to 
each  of  the  engine  houses  in  sufficient  number  to  furnish  a  copy  to  each 
member  of  the  department.  A  late  Edinburgh  paper  advertises  the  fifth 
thousand  of  the  "  Revival  Lessons."     See  page  23*7. 


1857—1859.  277 

the  way,  has  lost  me  sundry  good  opinions  even  among  my  own 
flock.  Study  I  cannot,  being  run  down  by  persons,  many  of 
whom  I  never  knew,  in  search  of  counsel.  The  uptown  prayer- 
meetings  are  very  sober  and  edifying.  I  am  told  that  the  general 
tendency  in  all  is  to  increased  decorum.  The  openness  of  thou- 
sands to  doctrine,  reproof,  &c.,  is  undeniable.  Our  lecture  is 
crowded  unendurably— many  going  away.  The  publisher  of 
Spurgeon's  sermons,  says  he  has  sold  a  hundred  thousand.  All 
booksellers  agree,  that  while  the  general  trade  is  down,  they 
never  sold  so  many  religious  books.  You  may  rest  assured  that 
there  is  a  great  awakening  among  us,  of  which  not  one  word, 
gets  into  the  papers  ;  and  that  there  are  meetings  of  great  size, 
as  free  from  irreverence  as  any  you  ever  saw.  I  have  never 
seen  sacramental  seasons  more  tender  and  still  than  some  meet- 
ings held  daily  in  churches  in  our  part  of  town.  The  best 
token  I  have  seen  of  revival  was  our  meeting  of  Presbytery.  I 
never  was  at  such  a  one.  Brethren  seemed  flowino-  toijether  in 
love,  and  reported  a  great  increase  of  attention  in  all  their 
churches — and  this  within  a  very  few  days.  The  inquiring  con- 
dition among  ourselves  is  strange,  and  all  but  universal ;  God 
grant  it  may  be  continued,  or  exchanged  for  true  grace  in  them 
all.     ^  • 

We  are  just  setting  up  a  daily  (nightly)  prayer-meeting  in 
our  Mission  Chapel  for  the  poor,  (really  not  nominally.)  It  is 
superintended  by  a  Committee  of  about  ten  leading  gentlemen, 
under  sanction  of  the  session.  Among  the  numerous  cases  of 
persons  seeking  me  as  pastor,  most  of  the  inquirers  have  been 
inquiring  long.  Numbers  are  often  given  rashly  ;  no  man  knows 
how  many  are  convinced ;  perhaps  thirty  such  are  known  to  me  ; 
I  lay  little  stress  on  registration  in  this  matter,  and  deprecate 
publicity.  I  have  found  it  a  good  way  to  aj^point  a  certain  hour 
every  day,  for  persons  willing  to  be  talked  with.  Never  have  1 
felt  so  much  the  need  of  plain  elementary  instruction  as  to  the 
simplest  matters  in  religion.  The  greater  the  excitements  around 
us,  the  more  I  see  the  absolute  necessity  of  knowledge.  People 
come  to  me,  who  have  not  even  the  meaning  of  justification. 

New  York,  April  15,  1858. 

The  attendance  on  the  union  meetino;s  here  is  not  lessened. 
Last  week  the  meeting,  which  embraces  Potts,  Van  Zandt,  Hutton, 
Prentice,  A.  D.  Smith,  &c.,  was  at  our  church.  The  house  was 
filled.  Every  day  but  one  it  was  as  solemn  and  tender  as  most 
communion  seasons.  Constant  attendance  for  weeks  leaves  my 
judgment  unaltered,  that  it  is  bad  to  throw  the  meeting  open  for 
whomsoever  to  speak  and  pray. 


278  DUEDsG   THE   EEMAINDEE   OF   HIS   PASTOEATE. 

K'ew.York,  April  29,  1858. 
While  it  is  in  my  mind  I  will  jot  down  something  about 
Finney,  whom  I  heard  last  night  at  Cheever's.     Assembly  mid 
dling.     F.  looks  somid   and   well,  but,  of    course,  older.     He 
preaches  in  spectacles,  and  with  a  "  brief,"  which  he  mentions : 
'■  my  little  brief,  here."     Manner  much  subdued.     Voice  ringing 
and   capital,  but  with  Yankee  twang  and  nasality.     Perfectly 
colloquial   and   lawyerlike ;    avoiding   every  big  word,  and  as 
plain  as  any  one  could  be  talking  to  children.     Says  the  same 
thing  over  and  over  and  over,  sometimes  pausing  between,  with 
a   singular    effect   on   attention   and   memory.     Doctrinal    and 
argumentative,  but   not   hortatory ;    with  numerous   anecdotes 
and  illustrations.     Text  was  :   "  This  is  the  record,"  &c.     His 
sermon  (exceptis  excipiendis)  might  have  been  preached  by  the 
Erskines  or  McCheyne.     It  was  all  about  Christ  and  believing. 
£J.  g.,  "  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  helieveP     "There  is  the  record: 
God  has  given  his  Son.^^     "  He  says  not  '  I  will  give  so  and  so, 
if  J  on  do  so,  &c.,'  but  God  hath  given.''^     "You  are  all  looking 
inward  for  feelings  and  experience,  before  believing.     Believe 
first.     Believe  the  record.     Then  you  will  have  feelings."     Fig- 
ure :  A  New  Y^ork  beggar.     Steamer  bring  news  of  a  great  dona- 
tion to  him  ;  £10,000.     Certific^e  of  deposit  in  Wall  St.  ^\\i 
in  his  hands.     But  he  does  not  believe  it.     '  I  am  no  rich  man  ; 
rich  men  have  fine  clothes,  money,  coach  and  horses,  my  experi- 
ence is  all  the  other  w\ay.'  "     "  Belief  of  the  record  brings  soul 
into  union  with  Christ,  and  experience  ensues."     He  was  able 
and  tremendous  against  infidels.     The  interest,  though  intellectual, 
was  intense.     I  find  his  plan  and  all  the  details  graven  in  my 
memory.     He   keeps   up  the   obsolete   custom  of  an  Inquiry 
Meeting,  after  sermon. 

Seriousness  prevails  among  us.  I  have  had  no  extra  meet- 
ings, except  four  exhortations  on  doctrines  connected  with  con- 
version, &LQ.  The  best  means  I  have  alighted  on  is  an  hour  given 
out  to  receive  persons  seeking  direction  every  day.  This  has 
brought  many,  and  some  very  often  ;  and  the  interviews  have 
been  sometimes  long  and  always  private.  I  expect  to  take  in  on 
examination  more  than  thirty-five,  and  less  than  fifty.  The  daily 
prayer-meetings  are  unabated  in  interest.  Long  attendance  in 
no  degree  reconciles  me  to  the  license  given  to  A  B  or  C,  to  teach 
or  pray ;  nor  to  the  advertisements  requesting  prayer.  The 
presence  of  numerous  ministers  in  fraternity,  and  their  frequent 
remarks  and  expositions,  produce  a  good  impression. 

New  York,  May  V,  1858. 
I  am  on  the  Committee  of  Examination  of  the  Senior  Class 


185T— 1859.  279 

in  Princeton/  and  expect  to  go  thither  on  Tuesday.  During 
that  sojourn  I  wish  to  run  down  for  an  hour  or  so  to  your  me- 
tropolis. I  feel  it  almost  necessary  to  interrupt  the  tension  of 
thought  and  feeling.  Our  Session  has  admitted  fifty-seven  on 
examination,  and  four  on  certificate.'  The  majority  are  persons 
with  whom  I  have  been  dealing  for  years.'  I  know  of  no  abate- 
ment in  religious  interest.  The  noon-day  prayer-meeting  (this 
week  in  the  Ist  Church)  was  crowded.  There  must  have  been 
twenty  ministers  yesterday  ;  still,  solemn,  and  tender ;  more  like 
a  communion  than  a  prayer-meeting. 

.  jj^ay  10. — The  whole  lower  floor  of  our  church  was  filled  with 
communicants  yesterday.  Dabney's  sermon  (by  appointment  of 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions)  was  a  marvellous  one,  for  logic, 
weight,  and  scholarship.  Mary  S.,  one  of  the  loveliest  of  our 
new  converts,  died  on  the  morning  of  the  communion. 

New  York,  2Iay  19,  1858 
Last  night  [Tuesday]  I  concluded  my  series  on  Acts  ;  sixty- 
eight  lectures.  I  have  never  put  any  one  in  my  place,  and  never 
sul3stituted  any  other  passage.  The  attendance  has  constantly 
increased.  In  no  instance  have  I  ever  penned  a  line  in  prepara- 
tion for  them.  In  the  latter  parts  I  have  been  unspeakably  aided 
by  Addison's  Commentary.  Professor  M.  is  here  under  medical 
care,  but  one  of  those  cases  religiously  which  refresh  the  soul. 
A  Jeffersonian-infidel,  then  a  Channing-Unitarian,  now  I  doubt 
not  (though  he  doubts)  a  childlike  Christian.  He  is  a  silver- 
haired  old  gentleman,  of  the  true  school. 

I  have  no  plans  for  the  summer.  ]\Iy  brain  needs  rest. 
Spurgeon's  fourth  volume  shows  improvement.  The  selection 
is  made  here,  out  of  the  "  Pulpit,"  which  contains  all  he  ever 
utters.  He  preaches  out  of  doors  everywhere  but  in  London, 
where  he  fears  the  tumultuous  consec^uences. 

New  York,  May  26,  1858. 

In   three   days   I   have   had  three   funerals.     One  was  our 

penultimate  African,  a3t.  97^.     Funeral  in  Black  church.     Sang 

four  verses   of  .  a  Long  Metre  to  "  China,"  [Common  Metre.] 

The  entire  congregation  eflccted  synalsepha  and  ecthlipsis  of  the 

^  In  1851  he  was  elected  a  trustee  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  Thus 
his  name  stands  on  the  catalogue  as  a  student,  tutor,  professor,  and  trustee. 

^  The  whole  number  of  new  communicants  received  in  the  years  1858-  9, 
was  125  on  examination ;  32  on  certificate.  These  numbers  include  those 
who  worshipped  at  the  Mission  Chapel.  . 

3  Among  those  who  came  to  their  first  communion  on  this  occasion,  Dr 
Alexander  had  the  happiness  of  receiving  one  of  his  sons.  Another  son 
had  lately  received  his  license  as  a  probationer  for  the  ministry. 


280  DUEING   THE   EEMAINDER   OF   HIS   PASTOEATE. 

redundant  syllables  with  great  skill,  and  the  singing  was  delight- 
ful. The  General  Assembly  dissolved  on  Tuesday.  The  im- 
pression on  New  Orleans  was  favourable.  A  young  Cuban  has 
just  called  to  get  advice  about  religion,  previously  to  his  starting 
for  Paris,  where  he  will  learn  physic.  Great  numbers  must  have 
their  views  of  religion  modified  by  residence  here.  I  fear,  how- 
ever, often  with  skeptical  results.  The  Cesarean  simplicity  of 
Thiers's  histories  increases  as  he  goes  on.  "What  point-blank 
lying  he  convicts  Napoleon  of ! 

New  York,  June  1,  1858. 

Having  passed  through  a  winter  of  unexampled  employment 
with  perfect  health,  I  am  seized  with  a  severe  cough  upon  the 
accession  of  summer.  A  conspiracy  was  detected  yesterday  of 
the  "  Forty  Thieves,"  East  River  Mohocks,  to  break  up  a  mission 
school  by  sending  rowdies  to  make  a  noise,  and  then  having  a 
gang  without.  The  captain  of  the  police  had  wind  of  this,  and 
placed  the  entire  force  of  the  ward  in  the  station-house,  and 
undress  detectives  in  every  neighbouring  lot  and  resort;  so  they 
were  dispersed. 

P.'s  discourse  at pleased  numbers,  not  including  "  P.  P. 

of  this  Parish."  His  speech  was  commonplaces  garnished  with 
sophomore  rhetoric  ;  no  method  ;  no  force,  except  in  terms  ;  no 
tincture  of  letters,  and  every  here  and  there  a  demagogical  lug- 
ging in  of  the  dear  de7nos,  and  their  wrongs  at  the  hands  of 
science,  &c.     It  was  well  delivered. 

Henry  returned  to-day  from  a  very  useful  trip  to  the  extreme 
North,  where  he  has  been  fly-fishing  in  Moosehead  Lake.  Even 
after  Adirondack  and  Lake  Superior,  he  gives  these  mountains 
and  lakes  the  palm.  He  lay  out,  i.  e.  in  birch  shanties,  five  nights, 
and  brought  home  (with  young  Auchincloss)  eighty  pounds  of 
trout  in  ice.     The  largest  brook-trout  was  three  pounds. 

New  York,  July  10,  1858 
Addison  is  somewhere  in  town  ;  but  he  takes  his  carpet-bag 
and  determines  during  his  walk  whether  and  whither  he  shall  go. 
Duriiig  his  vacation  he  is  all  the  time  mo\-ing.  My  congrega- 
tion is  almost  all  gone,  but  the  church  will  not  be  closed. 
Samuel's  and  my  flock  will  lie  down  together.  We  shall  to- 
morrow receive  one  on  certificate,  and  sixteen  on  examination. 
When  will  an  American  Statesman  furnish  three  such  volumes, 
as  those  of  Gladstone  on  Homer  ?  '     Herodotus  is  also  comina 

o 
^  "  Studios  in  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age,"  by  the  Hon.  W.  E.  Glad- 
stone, member  of  Parliament  for  Oxford  University,  and  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer. 


1857—1859.  281 

out,  under  the  Rawlinsons,  with  all  the  elucidations  of  Egypt 
and  Nineveh.  The  sea-breeze  has  made  the  evenings  and  nights 
perfectly  comfortable  all  this  month,  though  the  days  were  broil- 
ing a  fortnight  ago.^ 

Peinceton,  August  9,  1858. 

AfKiirs  at  the  Branch  went  on  much  as  usual  after  your  exit. 
I  preached  at  Eedbank ;  a  very  nice  little  church.  I  have  not, 
for  a  long  time,  seen  so  much  talking  and  laughing  in  church. 
Heligious  revival  has  not  much  visited  that  country. 

During  our  period  of  epistolary  commerce,  now  =x-j-2 
years,  no  event  has  occurred  so  startling  as  the  Oceanic-cable.  I 
am  stupefied.  Yet,  after  all,  the  practical  results  may  be  less 
momentous  than  is  said.  I  hope  V.  R.  will  send  a  religious 
sentiment,  for  it  will  be  in  every  one's  mouth.  Still  more'do  I 
pray  that  it  may  augur  and  promote  everlasting  peace  in  the 
English-speaking  world.^ 

AVeary,  weary,  am  I  of  these  [theological]  controversies  de 
lana  caprina.  I  have  a  peculiar  position ;  being  in  ftxvour  of 
strict  subscription,  but  to  a  very  short  creed.  If  at  any  time 
you  would  like  to  inspect  the  views  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren, 
or  Darby  ites,  I  can  lend  you  some  able  and  pleasing  tracts  of 
theirs.  Gosse,  the  naturalist,  and  Tragelles,  the  biblical  critic, 
belong  to  them. 

New  York,  September  7,  1858. 
Almost  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives,  we  old  folks  are  Darby- 
and-Joan-ing  it  at  home,  without  any  progeny.  It  happens, 
without  plan,  that  all  our  young  are  at  Princeton.  I  stayed  at 
Saratoga,  after  I  had  become  more  than  conviva  satur.  The 
Daily  prayer-meetings  prevail  there ;  and,  from  the  great  conflux 
of  clergy  and  laity,  the  good  and  evil  of  that  institution  are  very 
prominent.  I  met  there  Drs.  Woodbridge  of  Hadley,  Bullock 
of  Kentucky,  Fowler  of  Utica,  Parker  of  China,  Worcester  of 
Salem,  Cook  of  Boston,  Magoon  of  Albany,  Ludlow  of  Po'keep- 
sie,  Chauncey  of  Highbridge,  Buddington  of  Brooklyn,  and  Cleave- 

land  of  New  Haven.     At  our  house  lodged  ,  the  gambler 

of  New  York,  McCormick  of  the  reaping  machine,  and  Christy 
of  the  Minstrelsy.  The  last  is  a  well-behaved,  grave-looking 
man,  who  drives  a  pair  of  milk-white  Arabian  horses,  the  gift  of 

]^  The  correspondents  met,  during  this  month,  at  Long  Branch. 

"  The  Queen's  Message  was  a  mere  congratulation  upon  "the  successful 
completion  of  the  great  international  work ;  "  but  the  English  directors  of 
the  company  had  added  to  their  magnetic  announcement  of  the  supposed 
union  of  the  two  countries  by  telegraph,  the  quotation:  "Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest :  on  earth  peace  :  good  will  toward  men." 


282  DUEING   THE   KEMAINDEK   OF   HIS    PASTOEATE. 

some  potentate  to  our  President.  I  have  been  very  well.  Our 
church  is  very  thin,  most  of  the  hearers  being  strangers.  We 
have  been  very  much  stirred  up  and  entertained  lately,  by  the 
visit  and  speeches  of  Jno.  McGregor,  Esq.,  of  London,  on  the 
Open-air-preacliing,  ragged-schools,  and  other  philanthropies  of 
England.  He  is  a  barrister  of  the  Middle  Temple,  a  downright, 
rapid,  witty,  merry  speaker,  whose  description  of  low  life  in 
London  and  the  means  of  dealing  with  it,  was  sometimes  almost 
in  the  Dickens  vein.  It  appears  from  his  statements,  that 
hundreds  of  open-air  discourses  are  delivered  simultaneously  in 
London,  by  laymen,  who  do  not  sing,  or  pray,  or  even  take  off 
the  hat.  He  lays  great  stress  on  all  these  ^particulars.  Has 
himself  spoken  about  five  hours  every  Sunday,  for  several  years. 
Erom  his  own  mode,  and  the  incidental  specimens,  these  dis- 
courses, in  the  endeavour  to  gain  attention,  are  in  great  danger 
of  losing  all  reverence,  tenderness,  and  unction.  They  are,  how- 
ever, a  good  deal  like  Latimer's  preachings  at  Paul's  Cross. 
Many  of  the  plans  would  require  great  modification  for  America, 
in  regard  to  such  differences  as  these :  the  immense  over-peopling 
of  Britain,  the  homogeneousness  of  the  upper  and  lower  classes 
as  to  nation,  all  being  English,  (and  this  applies  to  all  such  efforts 
as  "  Hearts  and  Hands,") ^  and  the  certain  and  complete  protection 
afforded  by  London  police.  Yet  his  appeals  were  awakening  in 
a  high  degree.  After  I  am  dead  and  gone,  I  feel  sure  our  cities 
will  have  large  and  elegant  free  churches.  I  would  not  object  to 
sumptuousness,  if  it  went  to  elevate,  solace,  and  enrich  the  j)oor. 
Trench's  book  on  the  authorized  version  is  delightful.  Our 
communion  is  coming  on,  with  only  three  on  examination.  My 
volume  of  sermons  is  nearly  printed,  but  will  not  be  out  I 
suppose,  before  November.'^  I  have  never  sent  a  book  to  press 
with  as  little  self-gratulation.  What  a  purgatorial  spot  is  Staten 
Island,  "  where  every  prospect  pleases,  and  only  man  is  vile."  ^ 
The  governor  fulminates  on  paper,  but  I  do  not  see  what  good  will 
come  of  it.  The  Bench,  which  used  to  be  our  resource  when  the 
poj)ulace  was  corrupt,  now  lets  the  ringleaders  slip  through.  I 
have  little  hope  even  of  tardy  justice  in  the  way  of  mulct.  I  have 
been  halting  on  one  foot  several  weeks ;  perhaps  sprain — perhaps 
rheumatism — I  guess  no  further.  My  brother's  East  Eiver 
mission  school  has  grown  entirely  out  of  their  accommodations. 
A  number  of  the  most  prominent  children,  who  sing  hymns 

^  A  recent  book  on  duties  to  the  humbler  chasses. 

^  "  Discourses  on  Common  Topics  of  Chi'istian  Faith  and  rractice,"  pub- 
lished by  Scribner. 

^  The  aUusion  is  to  the  repeated  burning  of  buildings  in  the  course  of 
erection  for  a  pubUc  hospital  for  contagious  diseases. 


1857—1859.  283 

about  Jesus,  are  Israelites.     I  heard  them  sing  the  ditty, "  Where, 
oh  where  are  the  Hebrew  children  1 " 

I  most  earnestly  wish  that  these  frequent  prayer-meetings, 
which  have  now  grown  into  regular  feasts  and  fasts,  could  have 
infused  into  them  some  scriptural  instruction. 

New  York,  October  T,  1858. 
South  [Sermons]  has  always  been  a  stand-by  of  mine ;  a 
powerful  accuser,  even  to  gall,  and  as  un-Christlike  in  temper  as 
if  no  gospel  had  ever  appeared.  By  an  association  of  contraries, 
I  think  of  A.  N.  Groves,  a  Plymouth-ist,  a  missionary  on  his 
own  hook,  whose  life  is  out  by  Nisteel.  I  do  not  think  I  ever 
came  across  a  holier,  lovelier,  less  worldly  person.  I  do  not 
think  I  ever  was  so  much  rebuked  by  a  human  composition. 
We  admit  twenty-two  on  examination,  from  Mr.  Rowell's  Mis- 
sion work  ;  two  Germans,  three  Dutch,  three  English,  the  rest 
Scotch  and  Irish;  all  promising,  all  respectable  working-folk. 
He  must  have  gathered  some  sixty  thus.  I  think  J.  A.  A.  has 
excelled  in  his  commentary  on  ]\Iark.  I  await  completion,  before 
I  make  a  sermon  out  of  the  cable. ^  Our  sham  Crystal-Palace  is 
no  more.  The  greatest  loss  [by  its  destruction]  is  probably 
that  of  poor  inventors.  No  wonder  ships  may  burn,  when  a 
building  of  iron  and  glass  is  consumed,  with  a  hundred  workmen 
and  two  thousand  visiters  in  it,  a  reservoir  next-door,  and  crack 
fire-engines  all  ready  inside. 

New  York,  November  23,  1858. 
The  weather  is  dismal.  On  Sunday  night  it  seemed  very 
much  against  our  Opera-house  service;  but  the  door-keeper 
estimates  the  attendance  at  3,000.'  No  doubt,  on  a  clear  night, 
the  applicants  will  be  6,000.  Numbers  sat  in  the  lobbies  and 
saloons,  of  the  very  class  who  are  never  seen  in  church.  The 
collection  covered  the  whole  expense,  with  15  per  cent.  over.  I 
wish  I  could  see  a  free  church  to  hold  just  as  many,  and  as  easy 
to  speak  in.  Our  fault-filiders,  however,  who  spy  the  evil  in  all 
I)lans  of  others,  and  suggest  none  of  their  own,  find  objection 
to  this  night-meeting  also.  Carlyle's  book^  is  very  funny  in 
parts,  but  as  a  whole  is  as  unreadable  as  a  bill  in  chancery. 
The^  daily  prayer-meetings  down  town  keep  up  with  great 
spirit,  having  an  influx  of  strangers  ;  our  uptown  ones  have  no 

^  Several  clergymen  had  preached  and  printed  discourses  on  the  Ocean 
Telegraph,  upon  its  first  promise  of  successful  operation. 

'^  "The  Academy  of  Music"  was  opened  on  the  evening  of  November 
21st  for  a  series  of  religious  services.  Dr.  Alexander  preached  on  that 
occasion  from  Rev.  xxii.  17. 

'  "  Frederick  the  Great." 


284:  DURIXG   THE   EEMAINDER   OF   HIS   PASTOEATE. 

revival  chcaracter,  but  simply  the  grave  and  occasionally  tender 
character  of  an  ordinary  large  meeting  of  Christians.  Saw}  er's 
translation  reads  lilve  a  travesty  :  "  And  after  breakfast  Jesus 
says  to  Simon  Peter,  Simon,  son  of  John,  do  you  you  love  me  ? 
And  Simon  replied,  Yes,  Lord,  you  know  that  I  am  your  friend." 
^KavSaAt^erat  is  always  rendered  "  offended  with  me,"  (fee.  The 
tendency  in  our  churches  here  is  to  gather  enormously  in  a  few 
favourite  spots.  I  have  never  succeeded  in  getting  a  single  man 
to  leave  us,  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  weak  churches,  and  I 
have  had  every  occasion  to  ask  it  and  press  it.  As  population 
moves  up,  each  of  the  lower  churches  in  its  turn  dwindles.  It 
is  just  the  same  with  the  Baptists  and  Methodists.  The  old  John 
street  incunabula  cannot  be  cited  as  an  exception,  as  that  house 
is  kept  as  a  sort  of  relic.  The  Episcopalians  are  the  principal 
free-churches,  since  the  Methodists  went  over  so  largely  to  pews- 
yism.  I  observed  in  London  that  the  parish  system  does  not 
prevent  this  evil  in  towns  ;  the  great  throngs  being  generally  at 
some  newly  erected  shrine. 

New  Tork,  January  4,  1859. 
I  wish  you  and  yours  a  happy  New  Year.  Ours  always 
begins  laboriously ;  ^  and  as  it  came  in  on  Saturday,  there  was 
not  much  rest.  My  reins,  by  occasional  suffering,  instruct  me, 
with  regard  to  weakness  and  mortality ;  and  at  this  moment  I 
am  ailing — though  unusually  well  in  general  health.  I  read  a 
MS.  by  a  Liberian  minister,  in  which,  not  content  with  mention- 
ing their  "  ladies,"  he  speaks  of  them  as  "  fair  ones."  ^ly 
sentence  for  1859  is  :  "  God,  my  exceeding  joy ; "  Hehreio, 
"  the  gladness  of  my  joy  ;  "  Greek  and  Vulgate,  "  the  gladdener 
of  my  youth ; "  French  (of  Ostervald,  giving  the  force  of  Vix) 
"  le  Dieu  fort  de  ma  joie  et  de  mon  ravissement."  May  He  be 
such  to  us  all !  I  have  just  read  200  MS.  pages  of  a  journal 
kept  by  Williams,  secretary  of  the  China  legation,  during  all  the 
proceedings  which  resulted  in  the  famous  treaty.  Thirty-two 
vessels  were  there.  One  is  led  to  pity  the  poor  Chinese ;  and 
W.,  as  a  missionary,  is  very  much  on  their  side.  They  were,  as 
you  know,  very  near  Peking ;  in  the  Peiho  River,  40''  N.  He 
speaks  of  the  British  as  selfish  and  surly,  and  is  very  severe  upon 
the  opium  matter.  Our  negotiations  were  materially  furthered 
by  the  wisdom,  kindness,  and  peaceful  tendencies  of  the  Russian 
ambassador.  Count  Poutiatine.  Williams  thinks  China  will  at 
once  be  flooded  by  Jesuits  from  France.  They  number  their 
Catholic  natives  at  800,000.     He  also  thinks  it  doubtful  whether 

^  Alluding  to  the  custom  of  general  calls  on  New  Year's  day. 


1857—1859.  285 

Protestant  missions  will  be  greatly  benefited.  The  timidity  of 
the  people,  in  their  greatest  masses,  is  made  more  striking  than 
ever.  Their  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  were  demolished 
almost  instanter,  and  3,100  were  slain. 

New  York,  February  11,  1859. 
I  have  just  come  in  from  our  Mission  Chapel,  where  nineteen 
have  been  admitted  on  examination,  making  nearly  70  in  the 
Chapel,  during  the  year.  A  very  able  paper  is  struggling  here, 
called  the  "Saturday  Press,"  a  really  dignified  literary  print. 
Why  does  not  Everett  [in  the  N.  Y.  Ledger]  give  us  his  remi- 
niscences  of  Germany,  Greece,  St.  James's,  or  even  the  Socinian 
pulpit  ? 

New  York,  3farcTi  4,  1859. 

Mr.  Everett  is  now  speaking,  [Oration  on  Washington.]  I 
had  an  offer  of  the  devotional  performance.  This  part  of  minis- 
terial duty  has  always  been  very  revolting  to  me.  I  really  miss 
Walsh,'  and  few  perhaps  do.  About  six  months  ago,  I  sent  to 
the  "  Journal  of  Commerce  "  an  article  on  Walsh,  with,  inter 
alia,  some  account  of  his  "Appeal."  How  yearningly  one's 
thoughts  go  after  the  destiny  of  a  soul  like  his  !  He  had  noble, 
rare  moral  traits ;  his  patriotism  seemed  never  chilled  by  ex- 
patriation ;  he  was  always  the  American,  and  of  an  old  time 
type.  Good,  worthy,  equable,  honest  Dr.  Carnahan  is  gone; 
abiit  ad  2^lures.^ 

Till  your  direct  testimony  came  into  court,  I  would  have 
almost  made  oath  to  the  statement  of  the  preface.^     It  has  been 

'  Mr.  Walsh  died  at  Paris,  February  T,  1859.  Many  passages  in  pre- 
ceding letters  show  the  high  regard  in  which  Dr.  Alexander  held  the  hterary 
character  of  Mr.  Walsh.  He  attributed  to  the  daily  reading  of  the  "Na- 
tional Gazette,"  while  yet  a  young  writer,  some  of  the  prominent  peculiarities 
of  his  own  style.  Perhaps  this  influence  caused  him  to  sacrifice  somewhat 
of  ease  and  fluency  to  the  exact  and  classical  stateliness  demanded  by  his 
model.  He  himself  called  it  (m  Walsh)  "twists  of  diction." 
"  Dr.  Carnahan  died  March  2,  1859. 

^  I  had  corrected  a  statement  in  the  preface  of  his  "  Revival  Tracts," 
which  mentioned  that  the  celebrated  stanzas  by  his  brother  Addison,  en- 
titled "  The  Doomed  Man,"  inserted  in  one  of  the  tracts,  were  then  published 
for  the  first  time  with  the  author's  consent.  I  informed  him  that  the  poem 
had  been  sent  to  me  by  Addison,  and  was  inserted  in  the  "  Sunday  School 
Journal,"  (April  5,  1837,)  and  that  the  original  had  a  stanza  which,  at  my 
recommendation,  was  omitted  as  being  too  horrible.  It  was  the  sixth,  and 
read  thus  : 

"  But  angels  know  the  fatal  sign, 
And  tremble  at  the  sight  ; 
And  devils  trace  each  livid  line 
With  desperate  delight." 


286  DUKING   THE   EEMAINDEK   OF   HIS   PASTOEATE. 

the  common  on  dit  in  the  family  for  years ;  he  has  talked  of 
himself  as  "  the  doomed  man  "  constantly,  seeing  the  reprints, 
&c.     I  will  try  to  alter  the  stereogram. 

You  doubtless  have  received  the  "  Prescott  Memorial,"  and 
have  read  the  alleged  dictum  of  P.  that  Robertson's  "  style  was 
that  of  a  schoolmistress."  But  see  Philip  the  Second,  i.  356. 
"  Robertson  .  .  .  recommended  ...  by  a  classic  elegance  of  style 
which  has  justly  given  him  a  preeminence  among  the  historians 
of  the  great  emperor."     I  am,  (as  I  suppose  we  shall  say,) 

truthfully  yours. 

New  York,  April  4,  1859. 
The  signs  look  like  war  in  Europe ;  who  can  estimate  the 
awfulness  of  such  a  conjuncture  !  I  find  four  or  five  letters 
from  Walsh,  chiefly  about  the  Review.  The  last  "  Knicker- 
bocker "  contains  some  irreverence  to  the  manes  of  our  quondam 
friend,  Dr.  McHenry.'  My  irritation  of  the  larynx  has  been  on 
me  annoyingly  for  about  two  weeks.  I  have,  for  the  first  time, 
to  treat  a  case  of  spiritualism.  A  man,  well  educated,  sound 
health,  good  habits,  strong  mind  in  every  other  direction ;  but 
perfectly  hag-ridden  by  spirits  of  his  wife,  his  father,  and  Robert 
Hall.  He  sits  up  sometimes  whole  nights,  writing ;  or  rather 
his  hand  is  used  by  the  spirits  ;  the  character  varying  with  the 
spirit.  He  himself  is  willing  to  believe  it  demoniacal  possession  ; 
but  I  have  not  felt  clear  to  take  this  ground  with  him.  I  have 
had  a  heavy  stroke  of  indisposition  these  last  few  days,  and  was 
unable  to  preach  yesterday  afternoon.  Mr.  Jenkins  [of  Phila- 
delphia] preached  last  evening  [in  Academy  of  Music]  with  great 
acceptance  ;  Plumer  comes  next.  A  member  of  my  church  talks 
of  building  a  church  for  some  poor  congregation  in  the  West. 

New  York,  April  19,  1859. 
For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  have  been  attacked  with  some- 
thing like  chills — now  about  a  fortnight.  The  beginning  was  a 
tremendous  shake,  which  made  all  quake  again;  since  then, 
crawls,  or  whatever  be  the  name  of  those  simulations.  During 
these  the  feeling  of  "  misery  "  has  been  very  great.  I  have 
spoken  to  very  few  persons  of  it,  but  since  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  I  have  lost  all  power  in  the  middle-finger  of  my  right  hand. 
The  finger  stutters  in  writing;  indeed,  I  cannot  use  it  at  all. 
Whether  this  is  paralysis  I  know  not,  but  I  regard  it  as  a  Divine 

^  Editor  of  the  "American  Monthly  Magazine  "  in  Philadelphia,  for  which 
■ve  had  written  in  1824. 


1857—1859.  287 

monition.     I  am  under  regular  and  active  treatment.     Writino- 
which  was  a  solace,  has  become  a  very  burdensome  task.'  °' 

'  On  the  26th  April  he  wrote  :  "  I  have  to  preach  a  Sunday  School  Per- 
mon  next  Sunday.  My  chills  are  suspended.  Deo  gratias."  On  the  1st  of 
May  I  heard  him  preach  the  sermon  referred  to,  which  was  delivered  with 
what  struck  me  as  an  unusual  and  unnecessary  power  of  voice.  He  preached 
again  on  the  following  Lord's-day,  (May  8,  communion  ;  1  Peter  ii  94  ) 
which  proved  to  be  his  last  sermon.  On  the  9th  he  wrote  to  me,  "3Iv 
health  has  steadily  gone  down :  yet,  through  mercy,  I  was  enabled  to  get 
through  the  commuDion  services.  I  expect  to  sail  for  Richmond  on  Wed- 
nesday.    I  shall  probably  be   addressable  at   Drake's   Branch,   Cliarlotte 

oa^u^'^'^^'Il  *^'^  ^^*'  *''.-^'^'  ^"^^  afterwards  at  University  of  Virginia  till 
29th."  On  the  next  day  (10th)  he  wrote  :  "  A  change  in  the  signs  of  Provi- 
dence has  changed  my  plans  So  obviously  my  cough  has  increased,  and 
my  flesh  decreased,  that  Session  and  Trustees,  motu  propria,  last  ni-ht  or- 
dered me  to  vacate  from  now  till  October  1.  I  propose  to  go  to  Vir|inia  in 
about  a  fortnight.  Don't  stay  at  home  an  hour ;  but  if  it  be  fair  I  will  trv 
to  drop  in  cliez  vous  some  day  this  week."  On  the  12th  his  report  was  "  Nb 
changes."  On  the  25th_"  though  all  packed  up,  and  on  the  eve  of  start- 
ing, we  are  forbidden  by  the  doctor  to  go,  in  consequence  of  my  severe 
cough,  but  more  particularly  a  fever  which  comes  on  at  ni-ht  Plans  un- 
certain. I  have  not  gained  any.  I  endeavour  to  cast  my^urden  on  the 
J-iOrd. 

.  ^"  \^'?  correspondence  of  this  month  he  wrote,  (in  dissent  from  my  opin- 
ion that  It  IS  better  for  ministers  to  prevent  actual  invitations  to  new  posi- 
tions which  they  know  they  would  not  accept)  as  follows:  "All  my  little 
observations  confirm  me  in  the  judgment,  that  such  things  should  not  be 
crushed  z?i  ovo;  though  my  own  practice  has  been  different.  A  man  runs 
belore  Providence,  who  answers  a  question  before  it  is  asked.  The  case 
cannot  be  before  him,  till  he  knows  the  vote,  &c.  He  has  a  right,  as  Christ's 
servant,  to  the  testimonial  in  his  favour,  even  of  an  appointment  which  ho 
declines.  His  congregation  have  a  right  to  the  credit  derivable  from  his 
preferring  them,  m  case  of  refusal.     The  simple,  natural  method  is  the 

It  was  also  during  the  low  state  of  his  health  in  the  middle  of  this  May, 
that  he  wrote  for  -  The  Presbyterian  "  an  affectionate  notice  of  the  Eev 
Henry  V  Johns,  D.D.,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  then  recently  deceased, 
from  that  article  I  extract  a  paragraph  of  biographical  interest  : 

Ihe  hrst  person  with  whom  I  ever  talked  freelv,  respecting  the  infinite 
concerns  of  my  soul,  was  Henry  V.  Johns  ;  and  he  has  told  me  that  a  like 
reniark  would  be  true  of  himself.  It  was  in  Nassau  Hall,  then  the  principal 
edifice  of  Princeton  College;  and  in  No.  27,  in  the  'second  entry:'  a  lo- 
cahty  fresh  in  the  memory  of  old  Xassovians.  We  were  boys  of  sixteen  • 
though  I  was  about  to  commence  bachelor  of  arts.  Such  conversations 
begin,  one  scarcely  knows  how ;  in  a  short  time  we  had  unbosomed  our- 
selves to  one  another,  and  entered  upon  a  close  and  tender  friendsliip  which 
I  trust  in  God  is  never  to  cease.  During  the  days  in  which  Henry  was 
under  the  work  of  the  law,  and  humbly  doubting  whether  indeed  he  had 
at  amed  to  justification  or  not,  he  used  to  walk  in  the  grove  behind  the 
college,  which,  alas!  with  other  forest  shades  of  my  boyhood,  has  long  since 
vanished  away.  As  he  strayed,  musing,  his  eye  was  attracted  bv  a  small 
folded  paper  upon  the  ground  ;  this  he  picked  up,  and  afterwards  showed 
to  me  ;  it  contained  these  words  :   '  And  they  that  are  Christ's  have  crucified 


288  DUUmG   THE   EEMAINDEE   OF   HIS   PASTOKATE. 

New  York,  3fay  28,  1859. 
As  I  am  ready  to  catch  at  any  little  straw  of  amendment, 
I  feel  cheered  by  being  very  slightly  better  to-day,  though  after 
a  bad  night  of  vexing  dreams  and  wakings.  My  cough  is  in 
abeyance ;  the  disguised  chill  and  consequent  fever  return  every 
eveninf'.     I  have  taken  a  refreshing  drive  for  three  successive 

days. 

Upon  any  fair  calculation  of  probabilities,  how  likely  is  it 
that  a  promiscuous  assembly  at  Indianapolis  will  decide  a  ques- 
tion aright  for  the  whole  church  %  I  have  long  looked  in  vain 
for  any  scriptural  or  rational  foundation  for  supreme  "  courts," 
having  half  a  continent  for  their  scope.  This  feeling  of  mine 
does  not  extend  to  Presbyteries.' 

University  of  Virginia,  June  Y,  1859. 

Your  alternative  of  a  tour  to  the  West  [in  preference  to  the 
South]  would  not  have  suited  me  at  all.  I  know  nobody  there, 
and  conveyances  and  railroads  are  not  what  I  need.  In  Virginia 
I  have  mountains,  numerous  friends,  at  whose  houses  (as  here)  1 
can  be  sheltered,  with  sweet,  rural  quiet,  and  daily  horse-exercise. 
I  could  not  have  come  even  here,  if  Dr.  Cabell,  with  considerate 
kindness,  had  not  gone  to  New  York  for  me.  At  the  time  Dr. 
Delafield  arrested  my  trip,  my  cough  and  expectoration  were 
excessive.  I  had  night-sweats,  and  my  pulse  was  at  120.  It 
has  come  down  to  84.  The  journey  has  done  me  good,  though 
I  have  very  bad  nights.  The  weather  here  has  been  almost  cold ; 
the  hills  and  mountains  are  beautifully  clad,  but  the  corn  is  not 
so  hio;h  as  in  Jersey.  Strawberries  still  linger,  of  fine  quality, 
and  plentiful.  We  shall  probably  remain  some  weeks  here,  and 
at  a  magnificent  farm  of  Mr.  Franklin  :Minor,  about  five  miles  off. 

After  having  written  and  printed  a  good  deal  about  sickness, 
health,  &c.,  I  find  there  are  pages  of  experience  to  turn  over, 
which  are  quite  new.  Especially  do  I  see  that  we  may  be 
brought  into  stumbling  and  stripping  dispensations,  of   which 

the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts,  Gal.  v.  24.  Try  yourself  by  this ! ' 
The  incident  made  a  deep  impression  on  lis  both,  carrying  to  our  apprehen- 
sions at  that  time  something  of  the  supernatural.  We  have  talked  it  over 
in  later  years,  and  there  is  reason  to  beUeve  that  it  had  a  moulding  influence 
on  Johns's  experience  and  life.  Soon  after  this  we  became  communicants, 
at  our  respective  homes." 

^  May  30.—"  I  have  had  a  somewhat  refreshing  night's  rest,  which  I 
have  not  had  before  during  some  weeks."  In  a  few  days  (June  2)  he  set 
out  with  his  wife  and  youngest  child  for  Virginia.  Afl  his  arrangements 
indicated  that  he  thouglit  it  probable  he  should  never  return  ;  and  as  the 
train  passed  Princetonliis  emotions  gave  unequivocal  signs  of  his  reflecting 
that  it  was  likely  to  be  the  last  view  he  should  have  of  that  endeared  place. 


1857—1859.  289 

during  their  continuance  ^ve  cannot  comprehend  the  nature.  I 
never  felt  more  perfectly  resigned  to  God's  Avill,  or  more  dis- 
posed to  justify  all  his  dealings,  be  it  life  or  death,  or  disability. 
This  is  my  strong  permanent  feeling.  Nevertheless,  with  this, 
and  perhaps  from  physical  depression,  all  things  seem  sad.  The 
chords  are  unstrung,  and  the  instrument  relaxed.  Give  my 
love  to  all  yours,  and  to  inquisitive  friends.^ 


TJniyersity  of  Yirginia,  June  23,  1859. 

By  a  dispensation  very  merciful  to  me,  the  summer  heats 
have  been  held  off  thus  far.  The  harvest  is  in  full  blast — what 
a  cheering  sight !  I  presume  I  saw  during  a  drive  this  morning 
several  wheat-fields,  of  300  acres  each,  under  the  process. 
McCormick's  reaper  is  largely  used.  The  improvements  here 
are  great,  and  still  going  on.  To  the  Rotunda  they  have  added  a 
great  projection  with  a  new  Corinthian  prostyle  on  the  North 
front.  Their  great  room  is  very  noble,  and  has  a  full-size  copy 
of  Raphael's  School  of  Athens.  At  great  expense  they  are  now 
working  to  convey  water  from  a  neighbouring  mount  to  every 
part  of  the  precincts.  A  charming  parsonage  has  been  built  for 
their  chaplain,  on  a  green  hillside,  among  trees.  One  of  the 
best-placed  and  finest  buildings  is  an  Infirmary  for  sick  students. 
It  is  supplied  with  every  convenience,  aired  throughout  by  Emer- 
son's ventilator,  hot  and  cold  baths,  English  water-closets,  &c. 
They  have  a  professional  teacher  of  gymnastics,  and  two  gym- 
nasiums, one  for  summer  and  one  for  winter.  Russian  vapour- 
baths  are  on  the  grounds,  which  Dr.  C.  takes  every  few  days, 
leaping  from  the  sweating  one  into  a  very  cold  plunge.  Their 
"  public  day  "  is  the  29th,  when  every  thing  breaks  up.  Dr. 
Gessner  Harrison,  now  their  oldest  professor,  has  resigned.  The 
demand  for  schools  is  truly  surprising.  I  suppose  there  are  a 
dozen  country-grammar  boarding-schools  in  this  county.  Gentle- 
men's sons  are  very  glad  to  take  such  places. 

If  they  did  not  keep  saying  so,  I  should  not  know  that  I  was 
any  better  than  a  month  ago.  I  lie  awake  most  of  the  night 
w^ith  slight  fever,  and  seldom  fail  of  a  chill  during  the  twenty 
four  hours.     A  slight  dinner  is  the  only  meal  for  which  I  have 

*  On  the  9tli  June  Dr.  Alexander  wrote  to  his  intimate  friend,  James  M. 
Halsted,  Esq.,  of  New  York — "  Since  our  arrival  here,  I  have  on  the  whole 
been  a  gainer.  While  I  cannot  say  that  my  cough  is  gone,  it  is  wonderfully 
lessened,  and  quite  suspended  for  long  periods.  My  nights  are  bad,  and  I 
suffer  from  a  dyspeptic  colic,  which  makes  very  strict  diet  necessary.  My 
appetite  is  good,  and  I  am  riding  on  horseback  every  day.  My  friends 
think  I  shall  recover,  against  the  fall.  That  is  as  God  pleases,  unto  whom 
I  desire  to  submit  myself." 

VOL.  II. — 13 


290       duednG  the  eemainder  of  his  pastoeate. 

any  appetite.  Quinine  in  large  doses  makes  me  for  days  as  deaf 
as  the  late  excellent  "  K.  H."  ^  They  begin  to  let  me  have  rasp- 
berries and  ice-cream.^ 

^  The  newspaper  signature  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster,  of  Mauch 
Chunk,  Pennsylvania. 

-  The  last  letter  but  one,  ever  written  by  this  faithful  hand,  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  discover,  is  the  one  I  subjoin,  from  the  Warm  Springs,  ad- 
dressed to  his  brother  Addison,  in  Princeton.  Like  the  preceding  letters 
from  Virginia  to  myself,  it  was  written  with  a  pencil,  but  with  no  signs  of 
debility. 

"  Bath  Coxtet  House,  July  13, 1859. 

"  Writing  costs  me  so  much,  that  this  must  go  for  an  answer  to  A.'s  and 
J.'s  letters.  We  arrived  here  on  the  13th,  pex'haps  the  hottest  day  of  the 
season.  Though  feeling  the  heat,  we  are  all  benefited  by  the  marked 
change  to  mountain  air.  The  bath  agrees  with  me ;  it  is  38  feet  diam- 
eter, 5  feet  deep,  and  98°  Fahrenheit ;  being  moreover  clear  as  crystal. 
The  waters  are  also  drunk,  being  weak  Epsom  salts,  and  a  dash  of  sulphur. 
The  hotel  is  well  kept,  the  mutton  is  delicious,  and  venison  is  on  the  table 
twice  a  day.  The  guests  do  not  number  more  than  forty.  This  place  is  in 
danger  of  being  left  out  of  the  fashionable  range  ;  it  is  no  longer  on  the 
way  to  the  White  Sulphur  and  Sweet  Springs,  and  is  accessible  only  by  very 
heavy  mountain  staging.  It  is  nevertheless,  for  picturesque  scenery, 
above  all  the  others. 

"  Since  coming  here  I  have  felt  better  in  several  respects  ;  better  sleep, 
excellent  appetite,  and  a  slight  accession  of  strength.  I  am  taking  no 
physic,  except  Dr.  Delafield's  tonic  prescription  of  Citr.  Ferri  cum  Cin- 
chona; it  comes  mixed  chemically.     My  absolute  strength  is  small:  I  was 

in  error  about  my  weight ;  it  is  142  lbs I  think  the  heat  must  be 

very  great  in  the  plains.  Drought  prevails  here  ;  there  has  been  no  shower 
for  three  weeks. 

"  If  my  aunt  and  cousins  are  still  with  you,  remember  me  to  them  kindly. 
I  w^as  so  utterly  unfit  for  visiting,  that  I  did  not  fulfil  my  purpose  of  going 
to  Staunton  and  Lexington. 

*'  This  is  a  very  wild  country ;  venison,  however,  rises  in  price ;  it  is  now 
six  cents  a  pound.  A  buck  is  brought  in,  on  an  average,  once  a  day. 
Partridges  and  pheasants  abound.  A  fox  crossed  right  before  our  horses' 
heads  on  the  Warm  Spring  mountain.  We  shall  probably  remain  a  week, 
and  then  go  for  more  permanent  quarters  to  the  Red  Sweet  Springs.  I 
neglected  to  say,  that  I  feel  quite  free  of  my  intermittent,  neither  have  I 
any  regular  cough." 

The  final  effort  of  his  letter-writing  was  to  address  some  lines  to  a  young 
nephew  in  New  York,  who  was  suffering  with  a  broken  arm. 


CHAPTER   XY. 

CONCLUDING     NOTE. 

1859. 

With  the  letter  of  June  23,  this  long,  regular,  and  most 
affectionate  correspondence  terminated  on  the  part  of  my  faith- 
ful friend.  I  wrote  to  him  on  the  7th  and  21st  of  July,  mform- 
ing  him  in  the  latter,  that  I  should  leave  home  on  the  27th  for  a 
journey  of  some  weeks,  and  begging  him  to  send  me  word  to  certain 
points  on  the  5th  and  10th  of  August,  of  the  state  of  his  health. 
I  had  been  desponding  of  his  recovery  from  the  time  of  our  last 
personal  interview,  May  2  ;  but  was  not  prepared  to  receive  the 
tidings  of  his  departure  so  early  as  it  came ;  for  before  the  first 
date  I  had  fixed  for  his  w^riting  to  me  he  was  in  his  grave. 

Nothing,  therefore,  remains  of  my  present  undertaking,  but 
to  furnish  a  narrative  of  the  events  of  these  last  few  weeks ; 
which  I  am  able  to  do  in  the  language  of  those  who  had  the 
privilege,  providentially  denied  to  myself,  of  being  with  him  in 
the  closing  scenes. 

At  the  University  of  Virginia  he  had  his  home  with  his  wife's 
brother.  Dr.  James  L.  Cabell,  Professor  of  Comparative  Anatomy 
and  Physiology,  w^hose  sympathies  and  attentions  as  a  compan- 
ion, friend,  and  physician,  supplied  every  thing  that  either  his 
domestic  or  religious  wants  could  require. 

"  During  the  first  few  days  after  his  arrival  at  my  house,"  (I 
quote  the  words  of  Dr.  Cabell  in  letters  to  myself  and  others,) 
"he  allowed  himself  to  be  distressingly  exercised  on  the  subject 
of  his  relations  to  the  congregation,  but  letters  received  almost 
simultaneously  from  two  of  the  Elders,  in  which  they  requested 


292  CONCLTJDING   KOTE. 

him  to  dismiss  that  subject  from  his  mind  imtil  his  health  should 
be  fully  restored,  had  the  desired  result ;  and  from  that  time  for- 
ward I  had  no  reason  to  think  that  the  subject  ever  disturbed 
him  again.  The  remainder  of  his  days  was  spent  in  tranquil 
enjoyment,  evidently  at  peace  with  God  through  fliith  in  Christ, 
and  in  love  and  charity  with  all  men. 

"  Leaving  the  University  at  noon  of  July  12,  we  reached 
ISIillboro'  station  at  four,  and  there  took  a  chartered  coach  for  the 
Warm  Springs.  The  afternoon  was  exceedingly  sultry,  and  when 
we  reached  the  Bath  Alum  Springs,  nine  or  ten  miles  from  the 
station,  and  five  from  the  end  of  our  journey,  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  stop  for  the  night.  We  made  a  fresh  start  at  daybreak, 
(July  13,)  and  crossed  the  Warm  Spring  Mountain  before  break- 
fast. It  was  a  fine  bracing  morning.  He  had  enjoyed  good 
rest  during  the  night,  and  was  in  excellent  spirits.  When  we 
drove  up  to  the  Warm  Springs  Hotel,  he  got  out  of  the  coach 
with  a  more  elastic  step  than  he  had  shown  for  months,  and 
averred  that  he  felt  like  a  new  man.  After  a  day  or  two  this, 
feeling  of  buoyancy  deserted  him,  and  was  succeeded  by  an  ex- 
pression of  tranquil  resignation  which  puzzled  me.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  absence  of  a  painful  expression  was  gratifying,  in  con- 
trast with  the  previously  frequent  indications  of  bodily  and 
mental  distress  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ordinary  signs  of 
convalescence  in  improved  appetite  and  buoyant  spirits,  were 
lacking. 

"  The  suspension  of  some  of  his  most  distressing  symiDtoms 
soon  after  his  arrival  in  Virginia,  gave  me  for  a  time  pretty 
sanguine  hopes  of  his  ultimate  restoration ;  but  my  mind  gradu- 
ally received  the  impression  that  despite  the  abeyance  of  such 
symptoms,  no  ground  previously  lost  was  ever  recovered.  The 
flesh  and  strength  he  had  lost  were  never  regained ;  and  more 
than  this,  his  weakness  and  emaciation  increased  progressively, 
though  slowly.  By  insensible  degrees  my  hopes  were  lessening 
and  my  fears  were  increasing.  He  himself  never  wavered  in  his 
conviction  that  he  was  not  only  hopelessly  disabled,  but  that  his 
end  was  much  nearer  at  hand  than  others  thought.  He  left  New 
York  early  in  June,  six  weeks  later  my  house,  in  the  firm  con- 
viction that  he  would  see  neither  place  again.     Still  he  was 


1850.  293 

impatient  to  get  into  the  mountains.     You  know  the  force  of  his 
.esthetic  susceptibilities.     In  his  daily  drives,  his  enjoyment  of 
our  mountain  scenery,  which  is  unsurpassed  for  its  varied  beauty 
and  grandeur,  was  almost  rapturous.     It  had  never  before,  he 
said,  been  half  so  great.     He  would  repeatedly  say  that  he  had 
no  lano-ua^re  of  his  own  adequate  to  the  expression  of  his  feel- 
ings, and  could  only  exclaim  with  the  Psalmist :  '  Oh  that  men 
would  praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness  and  for  His  wonderful 
works  to  the  children  of  men.'     Similar  exercises  were  mani- 
fested on  our  journey  to  the  Warm  Springs,  and  especially  at 
that  spot  of   exquisite  beauty,  where  we  lingered  a  week.     It 
must  have  been  the  effect  of  such  mental  exercises  that  produced 
so  marked  a  change  in  the  expression  of  his  countenance,  by 
removing  the  traces  of  suffering,  as  to  cause  both  ourselves  and 
strangers  to  mark  the  change,  and  to  imagine  that  he  was  much 
better      But  I  recall  the  fact  that  he  several  times  said  to  me  : 
'  I  have  a  strange  feeling  of  increasing  debility.'     On  learning 
from  my  sister  that  he  slept  better  than  he  had  done  for  months, 
that  he  was  entirely  free  from  pain  at  night,  and  that  his  appetite 
and  enjoyment  of  food  were  keen,  I  could  not  attach  much  sig- 
nificance to  a  feeling,  which  is  temporarily  experienced  by  most 
persons  who  take  a  warm  bath  daily.     He  was  impatient  to  go 
on  to  the  Red  Sweet  Springs,  (Alleghany  county,)  his  favourite 
resort  in  these  mountains.    Waiting  for  a  rain  to  lay  the  dust  and 
cool  the  air,  we  left  the  Warm  Springs  on  the  20th  July,  the  day 
after  a  heavy  shower  had  produced  this  twofold  change,  on  a  bright 
and  beautiful  morning.    But  we  had  not  gone  many  miles  before 
we  found,  to  our  great  regret,  that  the  clouds  of  the  precedmg 
day  had  not  extended  far  in  the  direction  of  our  road,  and  we 
were  greatly  oppressed  by  the  heat  and  dust.     Towards  noon  he 
requested  me  to  stop  the  coach  at  the  nearest  house  as  he  was  suf- 
fering extreme  pain.     In  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  reached 
an  obscure  country  tavern,  where  we  remained  four  or  five  hours, 
and  then  proceeded  eight  miles  further  to  a  more  comfortable 
house,  where  well-ventilated  rooms  and  good  bedding  could  be 
obtained.     Here,   during   the   night,    symptoms   of    dysentery 
appeared,  but  were   relieved   by  prompt  remedies  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  admit  of  his  travelling  the  next  morning  over  the 


294:  CONCLUDING   NOTE. 

remaining  eighteen  miles  of  his  journey,  which  brought  us  to 
the  Eed  Sweet  Springs.  Having  here  more  comforts,  conven- 
iences and  appliances  for  gratifying  his  tastes,  than  could  have 
"been  brought  together  elsewhere,  both  he  and  my  sister  made  it 
a  subject  of  thanksgiving  that  he  was  permitted  to  reach  a  spot 
endeared  to  him  by  its  rural  and  quiet  charms  and  many  pleasant 
associations. 

"  Our  determination  to  continue  our  journey  was  based  upon 
the  fact  that  the  tavern  at  which  we  lodged,  though  in  many  other 
respects  quite  comfortable,  was  rendered  unfit  for  invalids  by 
reason  of  its  being  the  night-stand  for  the  enormous  travel  to 
the  White  Sulphur  Springs.  The  stages  were  coming  in  or  going 
out  nearly  all  night,  and  there  were  not  two  hours  of  quiet  during 
the  entire  night.  He  passed  over  the  eighteen  miles  with  so 
little  discomfort,  and  with  so  frequent  manifestations  of  delight 
as  he  recalled  the  familiar  objects  along  the  road,  that  I  really 
thought  the  disease  must  have  been  extinguished.  The  symp- 
toms returned,  however,  after  our  arrival  at  the  Springs,  but 
with  so  moderate  a  degree  of  intensity  as  to  awaken  no  alarm. 
The  immediate  cause  of  death  was  an  uncontrollable  diarrhoea 
supervening  upon  an  attack  of  dysentery.  His  system  responded 
readily  enough  to  the  remedies  employed,  and  this  circumstance 
induced  us  to  indulge  very  sanguine  hopes  of  his  recovery  until 
a  few  days  before  the  termination ;  but  his  physical  constitution 
had  been  so  completely  wrecked  that  he  had  no  recuperative 
power  in  reserve  for  such  exigencies.  On  Wednesday  morning, 
July  27th,  after  a  night  of  fever,  I  sent  telegraphic  communica- 
tions to  his  friends  respecting  his  condition.  From  this  time 
till  his  death  I  did  not  leave  his  bedside,  except  to  take  my 
meals.  Wednesday  night  the  fever  was  scarcely  perceptible,  and 
his  sleep  was  so  refreshing  that  on  awaking  at  dawn  of  day,  he 
said  to  me  :  'I  slept  delightfully  and  am  much  refreshed.'  An 
hour  or  two  later  he  said  to  my  sister :  '  I  must  be  better — I 
feel  entirely  comfortable.'  This  delusive  appearance  of  amend- 
ment continued  all  the  day,  and  slightly  revived  our  hopes.  But 
Thursday  night  the  fever  recurred,  and  again  on  Friday  night. 
On  the  latter  occasion  a  collapse  ensued  on  the  subsidence  of  the 
fever,  Avhich  looked  like  the  fmal  sinking.     He  rallied,  however. 


1859.  295 

but  the  fever  recurred  early  Saturday  night,  and  by  midnight  he 
was  evidently  and  unquestionably  sinking,  though  he  continued 
to  breathe  till  about  five  o'clock  on  the  Sabbath  morn. 

"  Much  of  the  time  before  his  strength  entirely  failed,  was 
spent  in  sending  messages  of  farewell  and  comfort  to  his  congre- 
gation and  the  absent  members  of  his  family.  He  said  :  '  I  have 
not  been  in  the  habit  of  talking  much  on  the  subject  of  my  own 
spirituab  states  of  feeling.  "With  respect  to  my  subjective 
religion,  I  have  often  disappointed  people  who  look  for  mani- 
festations of  a  certain  kind.  But  I  have  frequently  made  known 
to  Elizabeth  [his  wife]  the  grounds  of  my  hope.'  It  was  now 
suggested  to  him  that  he  was  exhausting  himself,  and  needed 
rest,  but  he  added,  '  Let  me  say  one  word  more  with  respect  to 
the  solemn  event  to  which  you  have  called  my  attention.  If 
the  curtain  were  to  drop  now,  and  I  were  this  moment  ushered 
into  the  presence  of  my  Maker,  what  would  be  my  feelings  ? 
They  would  be  these :  first,  I  would  prostrate  myself  in  an  un- 
utterable sense  of  my  nothingness  and  guilt ;  but,  secondly,  I 
would  look  upon  my  Redeemer  with  an  inexpressible  assurance 
of  faith  and  love.  A  jDassage  of  Scripture  which  expresses  my 
present  feeling  is  this  :  "  I  know  whom  "  (with  great  emphasis)  "  I 
have  believed,  and  am  assured  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which 
I  have  committed  to  him  against  that  day." '  In  quoting  this 
sentence  he  remarked,  '•  some  persons  read  it  '  in  whom  I  have 
believed,'  but  there  is  no  preposition.  Christ  himself  was  the 
direct  object  of  the  Apostle's  fliith."  This  took  place  about 
twenty  hours  before  his  departure,  after  which  he  fell  into  a  sweet 
sleep,  which  continued  till  the  last. 

"  We  are  apt  to  think  of  sickness  and  death  at  a  public 
watering-place  as  peculiarly  distressing.  It  was  far  otherwise  in 
this  case.  Our  party  had  the  exclusive  occupation  of  a  large 
isolated  cottage,  with  abundant  attendance  by  excellent  and  sym- 
pathizing servants,  and  the  kind-hearted  and  liberal  proprietor 
(Mr.  Bias)  spared  neither  trouble  nor  expense  in  procuring  every 
comfort  and  luxury  which  could  be  had." 

It  increases  our  cause  of  thankfulness  for  the  perfect  j^eace- 
fulness  and  serenity  of  this  passage  through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  to  know  that  Dr.  Alexander  expected  to  suffer 


296  coNCLUDrxG  note. 

some  severe  spiritual  conflicts  before  his  release.  In  view  of  such 
a  trial  he  had  deliberately  prepared  the  minds  of  those  who  might 
be  expected  to  be  most  deeply  moved  by  it ;  reminding  them 
of  the  nature  of  such  temporary  temptations  of  faith,  as  some- 
times occur  in  Christian  experience  before  the  final  triumph, 
and  bidding  them  not  to  be  disturbed  by  Avhat  might  take  place 
in  his  own  instance.  But  no  such  darkness,  doubt,  or  trouble 
came,  even  for  a  moment.  His  countenance,  even  in  silence 
and  sleep,  bore  such  a  happy  and  transported  expression,  that  it 
was  remarked  by  one  who  witnessed  it  that  he  was  already  looking 
into  heaven.  In  this  respect,  those  prayers  appeared  to  be 
answered,  wiiich  were  intimated  by  his  speaking  of  the  comfort 
he  found  on  his  death-bed  in  such  stanzas  as  these,  (translated 
from  German :) 

Forsake  me  not,  my  God, 

Thou  God  of  my  salvation ! 
Give  me  thy  light,  to  be 

My  sure  illumination. 
My  soul  to  folly  turns, 

Seeking  she  knows  not  what ; 
Oh !  lead  her  to  thyself — 

My  God,  forsake  me  not ! 

Forsake  me  not,  my  God  ! 

Take  not  thy  Spirit  from  me  ; 
And  suffer  not  the  might 

Of  sin  to  overcome  me. 
A  father  pitieth 

The  children  he  begot ; 
My  Father,  pity  me  ; 

My  God,  forsake  mc  not ! 

Forsake  me  not,  my  God  ! 

Thou  God  of  life  and  power, 
Enliven,  strengthen  mo. 

In  every  evil  hour ; 
And  when  the  sinful  fire 

"Within  my  heart  is  hot, 
Be  not  thou  far  from  me  ; 

My  God,  forsake  me  not ! 


1859.  297 

Forsake  me  not,  my  God ! 

Uphold  me  in  my  going  ; 
That  evermore  I  may 

Please  thee  in  all  well-doing  ; 
And  that  thy  will,  0  Lord, 

May  never  be  forgot 
In  all  my  works  and  ways — 

My  God,  forsake  me  not ! 

Forsake  me  not,  ray  God ! 

I  would  be  thine  forever ; 
Confirm  me  mightily 

In  every  right  endeavour. 
And  when  my  hour  is  come. 

Cleansed  from  all  stain  and  spot 
Of  sin,  receive  my  soul ; 

My  God,  forsake  me  not ! 

I  place,  here,  principally  on  account  of  tlic  interest  now 
associated  with  it  by  the  unexpected  decease  of  the  writer  him- 
self in  less  than  six  months  from  its  date,  an  extract  from  a 
letter  addressed  to  me  by  Dr.  J.  Addison  Alexander,  on  the  day 
after  his  brother's  death,  but  before  the  intelligence  had  reached 

New  York. 

"New  York,  August  1,  1859. 
*'  My  dear  Sir, 

"  I  left  town  on  I'riday  for  a  day  or  two,  and  on  returning  to 
resume  my  work  [writing  Commentary]  this  morning,  find  that 
James's  sons  set  off  that  same  day  for  the  South,  having  heard 
unfavourable  news  from  their  flxther,  and  that  my  brother  Samuel 
followed  them  last  night  after  receiving  a  despatch  saying  that 
James  was  rapidly  sinking.  He  w^as  seized  with  dysentery  on 
his  way  from  the  Warm  to  the  Sweet  Springs,  where  it  seems 
that  disease  is  epidemic.  I  hear  indirectly  through  a  member  of 
Dr.  Cabell's  family,  that  at  the  beginning  of  this  new  attack  he 
suffered  nothing,  but  seemed  nearly  insensible.  We  are  now  in 
hourly  expectation  of  later  news,  which  will  determine  my  own 
movements.  In  the  mean  time  I  think  it  right  to  let  you  know 
what  we  know,  if  you  have  not  previously  heard  it.  I  cannot 
yet  abandon  all  hope,  though  I  stand  prepared  to  hear  the  worst." 

In  a  letter  a  month  afterwards,  and  in  reference  to  another 
VOL  II. — 13* 


298  CONCLrDLN-G  NOTE. 

bereavement,  Dr.  J.  A.  A.  says:  "I  have  no  doubt  you  have 
often  turned  in  thought  to  our  departed  '  son  of  consolation,'  as 
if  he  were  still  living.  With  a  strange  but  not  unnatural  forget- 
fulness,  I  find  myself  looking  to  him  for  support  even  under  the 
irreparable  stroke  of  his  own  death.  I  had  no  conception  of 
my  intellectual  dependence  upon  James,  until  I  caught  myself 
continually  laying  things  aside  to  tell  him  as  the  person  who 
could  best  appreciate  and  enjoy  them.  All  this  says  very 
loudly  '  cease  ye  from  man  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils/  and 
shows  the  grace  and  wisdom  of  that  constitution  which  reserves 
the  office  of  comforter  for  a  divine  person.  The  circumstances 
which  you  mention  certainly  go  far  to  reconcile  us  to  his  death 
at  this  time ;  but  I  feel  now  and  then  a  disposition  to  repine  at 
the  circumstances  themselves.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  shortened 
his  own  life  by  morbid  anxieties,  connected  not  merely  with  his 
health,  but  with  his  duties.  I  find  it  hard  to  acquiesce  without 
a  murmur  in  the  loss  of  such  a  man  from  such  a  cause,  or  to 
reflect,  without  a  momentary  pang  of  discontent,  that  he  might 
have  preached  for  many  years  with  ease  and  pleasure,  but  sunk 
under  the  weight  of  other  cares. ^ 

"  It  seems  an  argument  in  favour  of  the  old  Puritan  arrange- 
ment, which  provided  both  a  pastor  and  a  teacher  in  such  cases. 
But  I  have  already  said  too  much,  and  check  myself." 

Ten  days  afterwards,  referring  to  the  modification  in  his 
Seminary  duties,  Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander  wrote  :  "  The  change  in  my 
employments  is  exceedingly  agreeable,  and  none  the  less  so  from 
its  having  been  a  favourite  plan  of  James's,  without  whose  in- 
fluence it  never  would  have  taken  place.  This  is  not  the  only 
point  in  which  he  lived  to  see  his  hopes  fulfilled  in  reference  to 
his  nearest  relatives — another  instance  of  the  loving-kindness 
which  arranged  the  circumstances  of  his  death." 

The  decease  took  place  early  on  the  morning  of  the  Lord's 
day,  July  31,  1859.  After  a  proper  interval,  the  body  was 
taken  to  Princeton,  and  the  interment  was  made  on  Wednesday, 

^  The  writer  alludes  to  his  brother's  extreme,  almost  morbid  consci- 
entiousness, which  led  him  to  attempt  an  amount  of  labour  beyond  his 
physical  ability,  and  which  oppressed  his  mind  when  he  found  he  could  not 
overtake  his  work. 


1859.  299 

August  3d  The  religious  services  connected  with  it  were  held 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  and  were  conducted  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Thompson  of  New  York,  Dr.  Magie  of  Elizabeth, 
Professor  Hope,  (since  deceased,)  of  the  College,  and  Dr.  Hodge, 
the  last  of  whom  preached  a  discourse  from  the  words  m 
Matthew  XXV.  34,  "  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his 
right  hand,  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  ^the  kmgdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

The  sympathy  felt  by  Christians  of  all  branches  of  the 
church,  in  the  removal  of  Dr.  Alexander  from  their  communion, 
was  strikingly  displayed  in  a  meeting  which  took  place  on  the 
5th  of  August,  at  the  most  largely  frequented  of  American 
summer-resorts-Saratoga.  At  this  assembly  clergymen  of  the 
Episcopal,  Congregational,  Baptist,  ]\Iethodist,  and  Peformed- 
Dutch,  as  well  as  the  Presbyterian  churches,  expressed  a  common 
sentiment  of  brotherly  affection  and  high  esteem. 

The  Session  of  the  bereaved  congregation  m  New  iork, 
appointed  the  second  Sabbath  of  October  to  be  observed  with 
special  reference  to  their  affliction.  It  had  been  expected  tha 
the  church  would  be  closed  during  part  of  the  summer  and  until 
that  day,  with  a  view  to  some  extensive  changes  in  the  bui  dmg 
to  assist  the  voice  of  the  pastor.  But  upon  the  reassemblmg 
of  the  congregation,  a  marble  tablet,  inserted  in  the  wall  near 
the  pulpit,  was  the  only  change  to  be  noticed.  That  tablet  bears 
the  following  inscription : 

IN   MEMORY   OP 

JAMES    WADDEL    ALEXANDER,    D.D., 

rOR  THIRTEEN  YEARS  THE  BELOYED  AND  RETERED  PASTOR  OE  THIS  CHURCH; 
WHOSE   SINGULAR  NATURAL  GIETS,  RIPENED  BY  GENEROUS  CULTURE, 

WERE   SUCCESSFULLY    GIVEN   TO   HIS   SACRED   WORK  ; 

AND  WHO,  BY  HIS  FERVENT  PIETY,  PURE  LIFE,  TENDER  AFFECTIONS, 

LARGE   BENEVOLENCE,   AND   UNSPARING   LABOUR,    SO   ENDEARED   HIMSELF   TO 

HIS    PEOPLE,  THAT   THEY   MOURN 
AS    FOR    A    DEAR    BROTHER    AND     BELOVED    FRIEND. 

He  was  BORN  Marcs  13,  1804, 
He  died  July  31,  1859, 

DECLARING,  AS  THE  SUM  OF  HIS  FAITH  AND  HOPE, 

"  I  know  Whom  1  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  to  him  against  that  day:' 


300  CONCLUDmG   J^OTE. 

AVith  the  services  on  the  Sabbath  alluded  to,  were  connected 
in  the  morning  a  sermon  by  Professor  Hodge  of  the  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary,  from  the  words,  (Acts  ix.  20,)  "  He 
preached  Christ ; "  and  in  the  afternoon  a  sermon  by  the  Editor 
of  these  volumes,  from  2  Peter  i.  15,  "Moreover,  I  will  endea- 
vour that  ye  may  be  able,  after  my  decease,  to  have  these  things 
always  in  remembrance." 

From  the  former  of  these,  I  extract  a  few  paragraphs  : 

"  Dr.  Alexander  united  in  himself  gifts  and  graces  rarely 
found  in  combination.  God  had  endowed  him  with  a  retentive 
memory  and  a  perspicacious  intellect,  with  great  power  of  ap- 
plication and  acquirement,  with  singular  delicacy  of  taste,  witli 
a  musical  ear,  and  a  resonant  voice.  These  gifts  were  all  culti- 
vated ancl  turned  to  the  best  account.  Probably  no  minister  in 
our  Church  was  a  more  accomplished  scholar.  He  was  familiar 
with  English  literature  in  all  periods  of  its  history.  He  culti- 
vated the  Greek  and  Latin,  French,  German,  Italian,  and  Spanish 
languages,  not  merely  as  a  philologist,  but  for  the  treasures  of 
knowledge  and  of  taste  which  they  contain.  To  this  wide  com- 
pass of  his  studies  is  in  good  measure  to  be  referred  many  of 
his  characteristics  as  a  writer,  the  abundance  of  his  literary  allu- 
sions, his  curious  felicity  of  expression,  and  the  variety  of  his 
imagery. 

"  It  was,  however,  not  only  in  the  department  of  literature 
that  Dr.  Alexander  was  thus  distinguished.  He  was  an  erudite 
theologian.  Few  men  were  more  conversant  with  the  writings 
of  the  early  fathers,  or  more  femiliar  with  Christian  doctrine 
in  all  its  phases.  He  embraced  the  faith  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  in  its  integrity  with  a  strength  of  conviction  which 
nothing;  but  the  accordance  of  that  svstem  with  his  relioious 
experience  could  produce.  *  -^  ^  Theology  and  philosophy  are 
so  related,  that  devotion  to  the  former  involves  of  necessity  the 
cultivation  of  the  latter.  Dr.  Alexander  was  therefore  at  home 
in  the  whole  department  of  philosophical  speculation.  His  last 
publication  was  an  able  exposition  of  the  views  of  the  meta- 
physicians of  the  middle  ages  on  one  of  the  most  important 
questions  in  mental  science.^ 

^  "  The  doctrine  of  Perception,  as  held  by  Poctor  Arnauld,  Doctor  Reid, 


1859.  301 

''•  Thus  richly  and  vr.rioiisly  was  your  beloved  pastor  endowed. 
These  gifts,  however,  were  but  accomplishments.     Underneath 
these  adornments,  in  themselves  of  priceless  value,  was  the  man 
and  the  Christian.     He  was  an  Israelite  without  guile.     Prob. 
ably  no  man  living  was  freer  from  all  envy  and  jealousy,  from 
malice,  hypocrisy,  and  evil-speaking.     No  one  ever  heard  of  his 
saying  or  doing  "an  unseemly  or  unkind  thing.     The  associations 
conne'^ted  with  his  name  in  the  minds  of  all  who  knew  him,  are 
of  things  true,  jpst,  pure,  lovely,  and  of  good  report.     No  one 
can  think. of  him  without  being  the  happier  and  the  better  for 
the   thought.     He   was   a   delightful   companion.      His   varied 
knowledge,  his  humor,  his  singular  power  of  illustration,  rendered 
his  conversation,  when  in  health  and  spirits,  a  perpetual  feast. 
Having  been  brought  early  in  life  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  his  religious  knowledge  and  experience  were  profound  and 
extensive.     He  was  therefore  a  skilful  casuist,  a  wise  counsellor, 
and  abundantly  able  to  comfort  the  afflicted  with  the  consolation 
wherewith  he  himself  had  been  comforted  of   God.     He  was 
evidently  a  devout  man,  reverential  in  all  his  acts  and  utter- 
ances, full  of  fiiith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  The  pulpit  was  his  appropriate  sphere.  There  all  his  gifts 
and  graces,  all  his  acquirements  and  experiences,  found  full  scope. 
Hence  the  remarkable  variety  which  characterized  his  preach- 
ing ;  which  was  sometimes  doctrinal,  sometimes  experimental, 
sometimes  historical,  sometimes  descriptive  or  graphic,  bringing 
scriptural  scenes  and  incidents  as  things  present  before  the  mind ; 
often  exegetical,  unfolding  the  meaning  of  the  word  of  God  in 
its  own  divine  form.  Hence,  too,  the  vivacity  of  thought,  the 
felicity  of  style,  and  fertility  of  illustration  which  were  displayed 
in  all  his  sermons.  He  could  adapt  himself  to  any  kind  of 
audience.  *  *  ^  He  preached  Christ  in  a  manner  which  seemed 
to  many  altogether  peculiar.  He  endeavoured  to  turn  the  minds 
of  men  away  from  themselves,  and  to  lead  them  to  look  only 

and  Sir  William  Hamilton,"  in  the  Repertory  for  April,  1859.     As  I  have 
in  the  progress  of  the  volumes,  indicated  Dr.  Alexander  s  artic  e.  m  the 
Repertory,°as  far  as  I  can  identify  them,  I  will  mention  that  m  the  cour.e 
of   1858   his   contributions   were,   1.  "Ancient   Manuscript   Sermons,      ^. 
"  Sprague's  Annals." 


302  CONCLUDING  NOTE. 

unto  Jesus.  He  strove  to  convince  his  hearers  that  the  work  of 
salvation  had  been  accomplished  for  them,  and  was  not  to  be 
done  by  them  ;  that  their  duty  was  simply  to  acquiesce  in  the 
work  of  Christ,  assured  that  the  subjective  work  of  sanctification 
is  due  to  the  objective  work  of  Christ,  as  appropriated  by  faith 
and  applied  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  thus  endeavoured  to  cut  off 
the  delays,  the  anxieties,  and  misgivings  which  arise  from  watch- 
ing the  exercises  of  our  own  minds,  seeking  in  what  we  inwardly 
experience  a  warrant  for  accepting  what  is  outwardly  offered  to 
the  chief  of  sinners,  without  money  and  without  price.  He  was 
eminently  successful  in  his  ministry,  not  only  in  the  conversion 
of  sinners,  but  in  comforting  and  edifying  believers.  The  great 
charm  of  his  preaching,  that  to  which  more  than  to  any  thing  else 
its  efficiency  is  to  be  referred,  was  his  power  over  the  religious 
afiections.  He  not  only  instructed,  encouraged,  and  strengthened 
his  hearers,  but  he  had,  to  a  remarkable  degree,  the  gift  of  calling 
their  devotional  feelings  into  exercise.  In  his  prayers  there  were 
those  peculiar  intonations  to  which  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  can 
attune  the  human  voice,  and  at  the  sound  of  which  the  gates  of 
heaven  seem  to  unfold,  and  the  worshippers  above  and  the  wor- 
shippers on  earth  mingle  together,  prostrate  in  adoration.  Your 
religious  services,  under  his  ministry,  were  truly  seasons  of 
devotion,  the  highest  form  of  enjoyment  vouchsafed  to  men  on 
earth.  The  man  who  can  give  us  this  enjoyment,  who  can  thus 
raise  our  hearts  to  God,  and  bring  us  into  communion  with  our 
Saviour,  we  reverence  and  love.  This  is  a  power  which  no  one 
envies,  from  which  no  one  wishes  to  detract,  which  surrounds  its 
possessor  with  a  sacred  halo,  attracting  all  eyes  and  offending 
none. 

"  Dr.  Alexander's  preeminence,  therefore,  was  due  not  to 
any  one  gift  alone ;  not  to  his  natural  abilities,  to  his  varied 
scholarship,  to  his  extensive  theological  knowledge  and  religious 
experience ;  not  to  his  divine  unction,  or  to  his  graces  of  elocu- 
tion. It  was  the  combination  of  all  these  which  made  him,  not 
the  first  of  orators  to  hear  on  rare  occasions,  but  the  first  of 
preachers  to  sit  under,  month  after  month  and  year  after 
year." 


1859.  303 

[Tlie  last  letter  ever  ^Yritten  by  Dr.  Alexander,  as  referred 
to  on  page  290,  was  as  follows  :] 

"Warm  Springs,  July  19,  1859. 

"  My  dear  little  Charley. — We  have  all  been  very  much 
grieved  to  hear  of  your  trouble ;  your  mother's  letter  is  all  we 
know,  but  we  trust  you  are  by  this  time  over  the  worst.  I  am 
weak,  and  cannot  write  much,  but  I  beg  you  to  consider  that  it 
is  your  Heavenly  Father  who  sends  this  affliction  on  you,  for 
your  good.  And  if  you  are  patient  and  resigned  to  the  will  of 
God,  it  will  please  God  as  much  as  if  you  did  the  most  laborious 
works.  We  were  pleased  to  hear  how  manly  you  were,  after 
you  were  hurt.  This  was  God's  gift ;  and  he  will  take  away 
your  timidity,  if  you  ask  him,  and  make  you  strong  and  cour- 
ageous. 

"  Willy  has  a  letter  begun  to  you,  but  he  is  a  poor  writer, 
and  every  thing  draws  him  away.  Give  my  love  to  your  dear 
parents,  to  my  sweet  little  Netty,  to  Archy  and  Sam,  also  to 
your  Uncle  Sam  ;  all  join  in  this.  A  letter  is  a  great  treat  up 
here.  Our  address  will  be  :  Red  Sweet  Springs,  Alleghany  Co., 
Va.  [J^^  Please  let  this  be  know^n  to  our  friends.  We  expect 
to  leave  here  to-morrow  in  a  chartered  stage.  Mrs.  Cabell  is 
better.  Your  aunt  is  well ;  so  is  Will.  My  own  troubles  are 
chiefly  from  extreme  weakness.  I  gain  little. 
"  God  bless  you,  Charley  ! 

"  I  am  your  affectionate  uncle 

James." 


APPENDIX. 


'No.  1. 

PRESB  YTERIAL      CHARGE. 

1841. 

[It  will  not,  I  think,  be  considered  an  inapi^ropriate  addition 
to  the  friendly  counsels  contained  in  many  of  the  foregoing 
Letters,  to  insert  the  public  Charge  addressed  by  their  writer  to 
his  correspondent,  as  part  of  the  prescribed  services  at  his  Ordi- 
nation and  Instalment.  This  took  place,  August  11, 1841,  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Trenton,  the  same  over  which 
Dr.  Alexander  was  installed,  February  11,  1829.] 

Invested  as  you  have  just  been  with  the  most  sacred  office 
known  among  men,  you  feel  it,  I  doubt  not,  to  be  the  most  solemn 
hour  of  life,  one  to  which  you  will  look  back  with  profound 
interest  during  all  your  pilgrimage— perhaps  in  your  dymg 
moments— and  certainly  from  the  eternal  world.  And  whether 
the  retrospect  be  one  of  joy  or  grief  will  depend  on  the  manner 
in  which  you  shall  have  fulfilled  these  vows.  If  you  perform 
the  duties  of  a  gospel-minister  with  faithfulness,  to  the  end  of 
your  course,  you  will  shine  as  a  star  in  the  firmament  of  glory ; 
but  if  you  turn  aside,  seduced  by  sloth,  fear,  pleasure,  literary 
or  professional  fame,  ambition  or  lucre,  your  account  will  be  as 
dreadful  as  your  privilege  is  great.  rr.    i  i  i 

Consider  what  it  is  that  you  have  vowed.  To  be  zealous  and 
faithful  in  maintaining  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  the  purity 
and  peace  of  the  church,  whatever  persecution  or  opposition 
may  arise  to  you  on  that  account ;— to  be  faithful  and  diligent 
in  the  exercise  of  all  personal  and  private  duties  which  become 
you  as  a  Christian,  and  a  minister  of  the  gospel ;  as  well  as  m 
all  relative  duties,  and  the  public  duties  of  your  ofhce ;  endea- 


Q 


06  PEESBTTEKIAL   CHAEGE. 


vouring  to  adorn  the  profession  of  the  gospel  by  your  conversa- 
tion ;  and  walking  with  exemplary  piety  before  the  flock  over 
which  God  hath  made  you  a  bishop.  And,  finally,  and  specially, 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  pastor  to  this  congregation. 

These,  my  brother,  are  the  duties  which  you  have  just  now 
recognized  as  yours  ;  and  I  am  aj^pointed  to  charge  you,  yea  in 
God's  name,  solemnly  to  charge  you  to  persevere  in  them.  But 
why  need  I  enlarge  upon  them  ?  It  is  not  the  knowledge  of 
our  duties  which  is  most  needed,  but  the  heart  to  perform  them. 
We  all  know  more  than  we  do,  and  little  would  be  gained  if  I 
were  to  rehearse  to  you  the  contents  of  all  the  volumes  on  the 
pastoral  care.  These  you  might  know,  and  yet  be  a  cast-away. 
But  to  do  them  is  what  only  the  Spirit  of  God  in  your  heart  will 
ever  ensure.  There  is  only  one  thing  which  will  make  you,  and 
keep  you  a  faithful  pastor,  and  that  is  the  new  nature  in  vigorous 
life ;  evincing  itself  in  love  to  Christ,  and  love  to  souls.  Take 
heed,  therefore,  to  tJnjself,  as  well  as  to  all  the  flock  over  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  thee  bishop,  to  feed  the  church  of 
God,  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood.  Take  heed 
unto  thyself,  and  unto  the  doctrine ;  continue  in  them ;  for  in 
doing  this  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself,  and  them  that  hear  thee. 
Though  you  are  a  minister,  it  does  not  follow  that  you  are  a 
member  of  Christ.  I  am  sure  I  speak  your  own  convictions 
when  I  say,  that  all  ministerial  activity  and  success  is  hollow  and 
deceptive,  which  does  not  flow  from  inward  experience  of  the 
divine  life.  Without  this,  vanity  is  stamped  alike  on  the  tongues 
of  men  and  of  angels — on  prophecy,  mysteries,  and  all  knowl- 
edge, on  self-impoverishing  alms  and  martyrdom  itself.  If  you 
ever  really  preach  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  it  will  be  because  God 
who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  shall  have 
shined  into  your  heart,  to  give  you  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Have  you,  my 
dear  brotlier,  beheld  that  glory "?  Having  the  same  spirit  of 
faith  with  Paul,  can  you  say  I  believed  and  therefore  have  I 
spoken  1  Does  the  love  of  Christ  constrain  you  1  Beware  of 
preaching  an  unknown  Saviour.  It  is  He  who  is  to  be  the  theme 
of  all  your  ministrations.  Make  sure  of  an  interest  in  his  death ; 
and  not  only  this,  but  strive  to  keep  the  fountain  full,  rather  than 
to  multiply  the  streams ;  cultivate  the  graces  of  the  closet,  in 
order  that  you  may  come  forth  in  public  and  private,  fresh  from 
divine  communications. 

It  is,  after  all,  personal  piety  which  makes  the  able  minister. 
It  is  a  mournful  fact  that  the  holiest  services  may  degenerate 
into  a  routine,  and  wx  may  preach  and  pray  with  hearts  as  dead 
as  those  of  our  hearers.     Even  the  measures  supposed  to  indicate 


1851.  307 

the  extremest  zeal  may  be  conducted  in  utter  coldness  and  hypo- 
crisy ;  and  the  preacher  may  come  reeking  from  the  heats  of 
fanatical  parades,  to  show  in  the  domestic  circle  a  frivolity  and 
asperity,  a  sensuality,  or  a  cupidity,  at  which  even  his  unconverted 
hearers  blush.     O  watch  the  fire  within  doors  ! 

;My  brother,  this  is  a  true  saying.  If  a  man  desire  the  office 
of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a  good  work.  A  bishop,  then,  must  be 
blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of  good  be- 
haviour, given  to  hospitality,  apt  to  teach,  not  given  to  wine, 
no  striker,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre  ;  but  patient ;  not  a  brawler, 
not  covetous,  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house,  having  his 
children  in  subjection  with  all  gravity.  Be  thou  an  example  of 
the  believers,  in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in 
faith,  in   purity.     Meditate   upon  these  things  ;    give  thyself 

WHOLLY  TO  THEM. 

If  these  precepts  be  observed,  you  will  the  less  need  rules  as 
to  the  details  of  duty.  Love  is  wiser  than  rules.  Love  is 
wisdom,  nay  love  is  power.  The  particular  measures  to  be 
adopted  as  to  the  communication  of  divine  truth,  I  leave  to  your 
own  Christian  discretion.  Love  is  inventive  and  will  find  out 
Avays.  Live  in  the  Word  of  God ;  be  mighty  in  the  Scriptures ; 
turn  what  you  read  into  experience ;  and  you  will  save  the  souls 
of  those  who  hear  you. 

And  now — May  the  blessing  of  God  rest  upon  you,  and  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  fill  your  heart !     Amen. 


1^0.  2. 
ADDITIONAL    LETTERS    FROM    EUROPE. 

1851. 

[No  more  extracts  from  the  correspondence  were  inserted  in 
Chapter  XL,  than  were  sufficient  to  furnish  a  general  outline  of 
the  first  European  journey,  without  giving  those  few  months  a 
disproportionate  space  in  the  memoir.  The  following  additional 
selections  have  been  made  as  not  only  entertaining  in  themselves, 
but  eminently  characteristic  of  the  observer.] 

London,  Jwie  9,  1851. 
As  I  am  bent  on  old  London,  I  caught  at  the  coachman's  say- 
ing this  morning,  that  we  might  see  Greenwich  Fair.     Down  the 
New  Road  in  an  omnibus  to  the  Bengk,  (so  is  "  bank  "  hight,) 
thence  to  Temple  Bar  in  another  ;  thence  to  London  Bridge  in  a 


308  LETTEES   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

third,  (always  on  top,)  seeing  Bow  church,  Guildhall,  Mansion 
House,  &c.,  to  the  stairs  by  the  bridge.  Hundreds  on  hundreds 
of  vans  laden  with  country  folk.  Scores  of  steamers,  some  for 
a  penny,  for  the  Fair.  Such  masses  of  heads  I  never  saw.  Yet 
the  ever-present  police  prevent  the  slightest  jam.  Off  we  go, 
under  London  Bridge,  seven  miles  downward  to  Greenwich. 
Such  a  sight !  Streets  cleared  of  animals  and  vehicles  for  miles. 
All  one  raree-show.  Thousands  on  thousands.  Here  is  a 
mountebank  ;  there  a  Highland  piper  in  tartan,  and  boys  dancing 
the  fling  ;  then  theatres,  with  Hamlet  and  Ophelia  begging  the 
people  to  come  in,  price  one  penny.  I  saw  three  several  Punch 
and  Judys.  Like  ten  old  commencements  [of  Princeton  College] 
in  one.  Yet  among  a  hundred  thousand  people  we  saw  no  dis- 
order, heard  no  oath,  and  met  but  one  tipsy  man.  They  get 
warm  toward  night. 

Then  to  glorious  Greenwich  Park,  acres  of  green  turf,  and 
trees  centuries  old.  We  supposed  the  number  of  separate  stalls 
or  places  must  have  been  several  thousands.  All  laughing,  all 
merry,  all  kindly,  all  rosy,  all  plebeian,  and  all  Cockneys.  We 
saw  not  one  gentleman  or  lady.  From  time  immemorial,  the 
people  at  this  Fair  use  a  little  noisy  wooden  scraper-wheel,  called 
the  "fun  o'  the  foir."  Everybody  scrapes  everybody's  back 
unawares.  Hundreds  of  babes  in  arms,  and  all  this  in  a  smart 
rain.     But,  as  I  said,  London  rains  are  play-showers. 

London,  June  10,  1851. 

Holidays  continue.  Hundreds  of  people  will  come  from  all 
the  railways.  I  am  writing  early  at  the  south-east  window  of 
the  house,  four-pair  back.  Through  one  pane  of  glass,  without 
moving,  I  count  fifteen  churches,  including  St.  Paul's,  over  which 
the  sun  is  trying  to  colour  the  black  London  smoke,  but  for 
which  I  coidd  perhaps  count  forty  steeples  thus.  I  look  down 
into  the  court  of  Somerset  House,  without  rising  from  my  chair. 
All  about  are  chimney-tops,  but  by  going  to  the  flat  roof,  I  see 
all  this  quarter— the  Tower,  Abbey,  Lambeth,  bridges,  river,  &c. 
It  is  what  brought  me  here.     [142  Strand.] 

The  wonder  of  wonders  is  the  police.  There  are  900  added. 
They  arc  so  protected  as  to  feel  their  respectability.  A  few  days 
ago,\an  uppish  Captain  of  the  Coldstream  Guards,  connected  with 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  struck  a  policeman.  Notwithstanding 
his  extreme  flouncing,  he  was  sentenced  to  ten  days'  imprison- 
ment. These  policemen  are  to  the  great  machine  of  London 
exactly  what  our  fifty  engineers  were  to  the  engine  of  the  Arctic. 
I  have  seen  but  one  tipsy  man,  and  heard  but  one  .  oath  in 
England,  yet   I   have  been  in  the  most  populous  parts.     No 


1851.  309 


crowdin?  is  allowed.  There  is  ten  times  as  much  collision  at 
Fill  on  street,  New  York,  as  at  the  East  end  of  he  S  rand,  or 
LoXn  Bridge.  I  have  a  passion  for  getthig  lost  m  odd  streets, 
and  m-e  done  it  to  my  heL-t's  content  here,  resorting  to  po  lee- 
ml  for  aid.  It  is  believed  .any  'hus-man,  or  officer,  would  he 
dismissed  instanter  who  should  be  uncivil  to  a  stranger. 

Our  host  came  yesterday,  07  miles  in  two  hours  .and  a 
quarter.  Yet  it  was  smooth  as  a  sleigh.  They  are  adoptmg 
some  bars  of  solid  iron,  with  no  sills  or  sleepers  between  them 
and  the  gravel.  All  along  the  sides  of  road  [railway]  it  is  at 
this  season  like  a  parterre. 

A  'bus  which  1  used  was  marked  636.5.     As  many  a-top  as 
in      The  'bus  coachmen  are  for  above  ours  ;   being  often  coach- 
men driven  from  the  roads  by  the  railways      They  never  chojv, 
alk  low,  or  behave  surly.     The  one  who  last  drove  me  to  the 
Bank  is  a  genuine  Mr.  Weller,  Senr. ;   was  twenty-eight  years 
ooadmig ;  came  out  of  Hessex-"  did  ye  never  'ear  of  Hessex  ? 
Many  convicts  in  America?     I  has  a  ne^y  in  Adelaide.       He 
S  foe  up,  holds  my  umbrella,  calls  other  'buses,  and  covers 
my  le-s  wit^i  a  cloth  when  it  rains.     He  kno^^;s  me  agam  and 
eica^e's  to  take  me  up.     This  is  true  of  all.     Two  can  sit  each 
s  d%  of  coachman.     He  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  money,  but 
drives  from  7*  A.  M.  to  12*  night.     Some  days  the  Paddington 
says%e  takes  n  his  ten  pounds,  often  only  two.   Price  is  sixpence 
^  Having   been   at   Greenwich  Fair  yesterday,  and  seen  all 
CockneydSm  in  glorious  delight,  1  went  w^:.  stream  to-day  to  see 
tire  other  extreine,  viz.,  AVindsor  Castle.     The  contrast  is  extra- 
orfinary  between 'this  dead-level  garden  (like  a  magic  praine) 
of  matchless   green,  and  the  frowning  fortress,  which  you  see 
f„r   miles    and  which  you  almost  skirt  m  .arriving  at  it      lt» 
irar'e  a  hundred 'feet  high.     AU.my  ideas  of  castdkcd 
strength  were  quite  feeble,  conip.ared  with  the  reality.     Outsido 
it  is  a  criant  hold ;  inside  it  is  a  scene  of  luxurious  art.     Al    my 
conception  of  Go  hie  churches  being  from  drawings,!  was  struck 
dumb  when  I  first  entered  St.  George's  Chapel.     It  -  -•>-   °  -  " 
laro-e  on  it     What  I  cannot  get  over  is  the  glorious  airy  loftiness, 
fetiiess  and  sweetness  of  this  edifice,  without  one  ^dea  of  gloom 
"One  if  the  very  prettiest  things  I  have  seen  was  a  string  of 
Quak  r  g  rls  at  Windsor,  no  doubt  wealthy,  birt  uniting  the 
Seency  of  the  pale  Philadelphians  with  the  British  roses.     It 
"r^Xs^ome  litSe  historic  knowledge  to  survey  -*  f  ^^j 
of  art  as  these  at  the  castle.     One  rooin  is  filled  x^  ith  the  ^^  or  s 
of  Van  Dyck,  and  one  with  those  of  Sir  Thomas  La-re.  «      The 
view  from  the  top  of  the  castle  has  often  ll^en  described,  (see 
Gray's  Ode,)  but  it  seems  endless,  and  may,  for  extent,  be  com 


310  LETTEES   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

pared  with  Monticello,  [Virginia.]  The  number  of  pedestrians 
is  astonishing.  Every  one  drinks  the  light  malt  liquor  of  the 
hostelries,  but  none  seem  excited.  Games  of  cricket  on  the 
greens  are  often  in  sight.  The  boats  on  the  river  seem  wholly 
gala-boats,  and  chiefly  rowed  by  boys.  The  number  of  the 
boys'  boats  at  Eton  is  surprising. 

June  11. — Before  breakflist  I  surveyed  Covent  Garden  Market 
near  by,  and  saw  the  matchless  flower  and  fruit  emporium  of 
London.  Scores  of  large  peaches,  forced  in  hot-houses,  ,and  sell- 
ing for  2s.  Qd.  a-piece,  [55  cents.]  After  breakfast  across  Water- 
loo Bridge  to  the  South-Western  Railway.  It  is  Hampton 
Races.  This  caused  a  multitude  to  be  going  the  same  way.  This 
also  showed  us  every  variety  of  sporting  character.  The  course 
is  a  mile  from  the  Palace.  (As  a  proof  of  English  exactness, 
Is.  Id.  is  this  moment  sent  in  from  the  Post  Office,  to  be  returned 
to  an  unknown  person  in  this  house,  which  has  been  over-paid.) 
The  palace  of  Hampton  Court  is  on  the  north  of  the  Thames,  ten 
miles  up  the  river,  near  Richmond.  Way  very. lovely ;  green 
lanes,  winding  pathways,  cricket  parties,  green  winding  banks  of 
the  gentle  Thames,  pleasure-boating,  (the  only  use  of  wherries 
now,)  amazing  swiftness  of  the  four-oar  boats,  rowed  by  ama- 
teurs. At  length  get  out  at  Hampton.  Roads  full,  full ;  nobles, 
gentry,  jockeys,  pony-phsetons,  donkeys  saddled  for  races,  grooms, 
j)ostilions,  men  in  every  livery,  and  colour  of  breeches.  As 
they  turn  off*  to  the  left,  we  turn  oflf  to  the  right,  to  the  palace. 
The  elms  were  planted  by  Wolsey,  who  planned  this  immense 
structure.  The  glory  of  the  building  is  its  paintings.  Eor  the 
first  time  I  beheld  works  of  M.  Angelo,  Corregio,  Murillo,  Guido, 
Titian,  and  the  original  Cartoons  of  Rafaelle.  We  visited  thirty- 
two  apartments  and  saw  1,026  pictures. 

June  13, — I  was  much  gratified  with  the  law-courts.  Lord 
Chancellor  Truro  was  on  the  seat  of  equity,  and  ]\Ir.  Wood  was 
speaking,  in  that  hurried,  clipping  way  common  to  all  about 
St.  Stephen's.  Lord  Campbell  and  Coleridge  at  Queen's  Bench. 
Benches  crammed  with  sergeants  and  barristers,  in  wigs,  bands, 
and  gowns.  I  also  entered  the  court  of  the  Vice  Chancellor, 
Sir  J.  Knight  Bruce.  I  hardly  expected  to  see  so  many  wigged 
ones  on  the  benches  ;  they  filled  them  like  pews.  Then  dash 
out,  and  lose  mj'self  in  the  city — in  the  London  of  C.  Lamb. 
After  all  my  study  of  the  localities,  I  can  hardly  believe  my 
eyes.  Such  dark,  dim,  tall,  narrow,  winding  ways,  such  lab}^- 
rinths,  plainly  just  so  for  ages.  People  stare  as  I  drive  into  the 
courts  around  St.  INlary  Aldermany  church.  Bow-lane,  and  j)eep 
into  Friday  street,  Bread  street.  Old  Change  Alley ;  often  have  to 
get  into  a  doorway  to  let  a  single  cart  pass.     Come  out  suddenly 


1851  311 

on  St.  Paul's  Church-yard ;  go  round  it,  among  the  shops ;  survey 
the  Religious  Tract  Society,  their  beautiful  committee-room  and 
library.  Portraits  of  Burder  and  Bickersteth.  Invited  to  meet 
their  Committee.  See  Arnold's  face  [portrait]  in  a  shop,  and 
go  in ;  it  is  Fellowes's,  his  publisher.  .  Greatly  struck  with  New- 
gate street  and  Old  Bailey.  Wonderful  old  courts  opening  into 
I'arringdon  St.  AYithout.  Down  from  High  Holborn  to  Fleet 
street.  O  the  thronsf !  Think  of  Johnson.  Fleet  street  becomes 
the  Strand,  and  in  this  I  am  now  at  home. 

A  wondrous  eating  and  drinking  folk  are  the  Cockneys. 
Pastry-cooks  and  chop-houses  seem  to  be  a  fourth  of  the  shops 
in  some  parts,  and  you  can  hardly  look  up  without  seeing  bright 
pots  of  ale  carried  about.  Yet  nobody  seems  to  be  drunk  in  the 
streets.  I  begin,  however,  to  be  aware  of  desperate  lazars,  and 
see  pallid,  begrimed  children.  I  have  no  time  for  telling  of  the 
ancient  churches,  which  are  numberless.  Their  names  carry  me 
back  to  Foxe's  Records.  Bow  church  I  pass  daily.  St.  Mary  le 
Strand  is  very  near  me  ;  so  is  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  East,  and  St. 
Clement's.  St.  Sepulchre's  (St.  Pulchre's)  is  near  Pie  Corner, 
where  the  great  fire  stopped.  In  another  direction  I  found  my- 
self at  the  Seven  Dials.  I  owe  much  to  the  cuts  in  the  "  Penny 
Magazine  "  for  my  familiarity  with  these  spots.. 

June  14. — I  went  out  before  breakfast  to  revisit  Covent 
Garden  market,  which  I  suppose  is  the  greatest  flower  market  in 
the  Avorld.^  I  could  smell  the  rich  odours  long  before  I  got  into 
the  street.  I  bought  a  moss-rose,  a  damask  rose,  a  bud,  a  gera- 
nium, and  a  bunch  of  pansies,  all  for  sixpence.  You  must  know 
that  no  rose  will  any  longer  grow  in  the  close  air  of  the  "  City." 
After  breakfast  I  went  to .  the  Horse  Guards,  traversed  the 
St.  James's  Park,  and  enjoyed  the  green  grass,  the  water,  the 
swans,  the  song  of  birds,  and  the  play  of  a  thousand  children. 
These  three  great  parks  open  into  each  other.  Don't  think  of 
them  as  little  patches  like  those  in  New  York.  In  the  middle 
of  these  parks  you  are  out  of  sight  of  all  the  great  city,  but  with 
gigantic  trees,  velvet  turf,  copses,  thickets,  artificial  rivers,  even 
with  miniature  ships  on  them ;  thousands  of  people  gently 
sauntering  or  resting,  and  children  without  number  playing,  romp- 
ing, rolling,-  flying  kites,  and  fishing.  I  pursued  my  w^ay  to 
St.  James's  Palace,  and  found  the  Foot  Guards  just  proceeding 
thither  from  Buckingham  Palace  with  music.  I  followed  them 
into  the  quadrangle  of  the  ancient  palace.  There  these  noble 
red-coats  formed  a  hollow  square,  and  the  band  played  for  an 
hour  the  choicest  operatic  airs.     I  need  not  say  a  Queen's  band  is 

^  He  afterwards  had  to  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  the  Paris  market, 
page  144. 


312  LETTERS   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

uo  mean  affair.  I  then  j)roceeded  to  another  court,  and  approached 
one  of  the  stiff  sentinels.  I  showed  him  Mr.  T.'s  letter  to  his 
brother.  He  presented  arms,  and  accompanied  me  to  the  right 
door.  I  rang  and  was  admitted  to  the  palace — to  an  ante- 
chamber. Four  servants  were  in  waiting.  Mr.  T.  had  not 
arrived.  It  was  about  eleven,  and  all  the  court-people  had  been 
up  till  four  at  a  masquerade  ball  at  the  palace.  I  was  ushered 
into  his  office,  which  was  full  of  great  ledgers  about  levees, 
drawing-rooms,  presentations,  &c.  The  servant  brought  me  a 
fresh  "  Morning  Post,"  which  is  the  Court  paper.  Presently  T. 
came  in.  I  told  him  I  had  thus  far  fliiled  to  see  the  Queen.  He 
directed  me  to  go  to  Buckingham  Palace,  near  Constitution  Hill. 
Crossing  Green  Park  I  did  so,  and  took  a  seat  looking  towards  the 
Palace  Garden.  Presently  there  was  a  sensation.  A  coach,  with 
four  elegant  outriders,  approached  with  the  Queen  and  Prince 
Albert.  I  saw  both  distinctly.  They  were  coming  home  from 
the  Crystal  Palace.  The  people  observed  dead  silence,  and  the 
general  raising  of  hats  was  quiet  and  momentary. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  into  Hyde  Park,  to  see  what  I  con- 
sider the  greatest  display  in  England.  Every  day  before  dimier 
(5  to  6i)  all  the  aristocracy  apj^ear,  either  in  carriages,  or  on 
horseback.  The  drive  is  miles  round.  All  the  wealth  and 
beauty  of  England  is  here  represented.  Coachmen,  footmen, 
postilions,  all  in  livery,  all  in  white  cravats,  breeches  and  stock- 
ings, and  many  powdered.  In  Rotten  Row  the  equestrians 
appear.  Our  Virginians  stand  aghast  at  the  bold  riding  of  the 
ladies.  Such  horses  and  horsemanship  cannot  be  matched. 
Among  this  multitude  I  did  not  hear  a  loud  word,  or  giggle,  or 
see  an  arrogant  or  bold  look.  Very  few  of  the  women  are 
beautiful  in  face,  but  the  figure  and  port  are  incomparable. 
Nothing  was  apparent  to  distinguish  noble  persons,  miless  it 
were  studied  cleanliness  and  plaimiess.  All  the  finery  is  on  the 
horses  and  servants.  The  most  graceful  dressing  was  on  the 
French  ladies,  of  whom  there  are  many. 

June  10. — Clear  again ;  but  it  will  rain  before  night,  as  it 
has  done  every  day.  You  don't  see  one  in  a  hundred,  even  of 
women,  with  an  umbrella.  The  water  here  is  good,  and  so  are 
the  milk  and  butter.  Such  mutton  and  beef  I  never  saw.  Bacon 
(as  they  call  it)  differs  from  ours,  and  is  very  melting  and 
delicious.  Cherries  have  just  come.  No  cheap  strawberries  yet. 
English  eat  cheese  with  salt.  Their  Cheshire  is  about  like  our 
Goshen.  The  Stilton  is  rich  and  altogether  j^eculiar.  The  cream 
cheese  and  the  sausage  are  better  than  we  have  at  home.  The 
bread  is  not  always  good.  It  is  not  dark  all  night  now.  I  waked 
at  two,  and  could  have  read  large  print. 


1851.  313 

To-day  at  Westminster  Hall ;  saw  the  Vice  Chancellor  on  the 
Bench  In  the  Common  Pleas  saw  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  Sir 
J.  Jervis,  and  Sir  T.  N.  Talfourd.  In  Exchequer,  heard  a  funny 
case  about  tobacco  samples.  Lord  Chief  Baron,  Sn-  J .  Pollock, 
displayed  much  keenness  in  bridling  Mr.  Humphrey,  Queen  s 
Counsel.  Sir  James  Park,  of  the  same  bench,  spoke  often.  In 
Queen's  Bench  again  saw  Lord  Campbell.  The  lawyers  wear 
not  only  the  wig,  with  two  rows  of  curls  and  two  queues,  and 
the  gown,  and  very  long  bands,  but  also  the  strait  coat  of  a 
century  ago.     I  sat  among  them  some  time  in  the  Exchequer 

court.  .       T .  1    T      1 

The  house  next  door  to  me,  (No  141,)  is  that  m  which  Jacob 
Tonson  kept  shop,  and  where  were  published  Thomson's  Sea- 
sons, Tom  Jones,  and  the  histories  of  Hume,  Eobertson,  and 

Gibbon. 

June  17. — I  again  visited  Covent  Garden  market  to  see  the 
matchless  fruits,  and  flowers,  and  vegetables.  Here  are  things 
which  cannot  be  described.  I  passed  by  the  old  Hummums. 
Eevisited  the  Temple ;  entered  the  house  where  Johnson  lived 
and  Lamb  was  born,  and  Johnson's  house  in  Bolt  court.  Thence 
to  the  neighbourhood  where  the  "  Boar's  head  in  Little  East- 
cheap  "  once  was ;  now  occupied  by  the  statue  of  William  IV. 
Then  to  the  American  Minister's,  [Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence ;]  great 
style  ;  he  has  an  excellent  manner,  very  English,  and  keeps  up 
the  American  style.  Then  for  the  fourth  time,  to  the  Crystal 
Palace.  This  time  I  must  say  there  was  a  crowd.  There  must 
have  been  hundreds  of  school  boys  an.d  girls  in  uniforms.  When- 
ever I  see  a  well-dressed  woman,  I  know  she  is  French.  The 
riding  of  the  ladies  in  Hyde  Park  is  a  beautiful  sight. 

Mr.  Lawrence  had  given  to  ISIajor  Preston  and  me  an  order 
to  enter  the  House  of  Lords.  Being  a  little  too  early  I  passed 
some  time  in  Westminster  Abbey,  just  opposite,  among  the  tombs. 
Then  I  went  out  to  see  the  Lords  assembling.  The  day  was 
fair,  and  it  was  a  fine  sight.  The  common  mode  was  on  a  noble 
horse,  with  a  groom  on  another,  who  immediately  rides  off*  with 
both  horses.  Some  came  in  coaches.  Some  walked,  and  I  even 
observed  some  getting  out  of  very  or'nary  cabs  and  paying  the 
fiire.  I  had  the  uncommon  pleasure  of  seeing  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington, for  the  second  time.  He  was  on  horseback  with  _  a 
groom  ;  white  trowsers  ;  much  of  Dr.  Miller's  look.  He  dis- 
mounted  with  much  difficulty.  I  did  not  see  him  afterwards  in 
the  House.  The  Chancellor,  Lord  Truro,  was  on  the  woolsack. 
I  saw  Brougham,  Grey,  Sir  J.  Graham,  (in  the  gallery,)  Lord 
Lansdowne,  Earl  of  Anglesea,  (with  one  leg,)  Archbishop  ot 
Canterbury,  Bishops   of   London,  Nor^vich,  and   Oxford.     Ihe 

VOL.  II. 14 


314:  LETTEKS   FEOM  ETOOPE. 

bishops  waddle  u-p  and  down  in  their  full  roljes.  The  judges 
have  their  gowns  and  wigs.  The  Lord  Chancellor  has  a  wig  with 
immense  ears.  The  rest  of  the  Lords  are  dressed  in  ordinary 
morning  trim,  generally  in  frock  coats,  very  plain,  but  scrupu- 
lously clean.  The  Chancellor  left  the  woolsack  and  made  a  very 
warm  defence  of  Chancery.  Lord  Stanley  made  a  powerful 
attack  on  the  ministry  in  regard  to  the  navigation  law^s.  Every 
other  sentence  was  about  the  United  States.  He  was  answered 
by  Lord  Grenville,  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  when  I  came 
away  at  7|  (still  dinnerless)  Lord  Hardwick  was  just  speaking. 
I  thought  the  debate  most  able.  Stanley  is  a  truly  eloquent 
man. 

Paris,  June  20 — July  9,  1851. 
From  London  to  Dover  we  went  like  lightning,  flying  through 
Kent,  too  fjist  to  see  flinch.  It  was  about  like  going  from  New 
York  to  Trenton.  O  the  wretched  little  steamer  across  the 
channel !  They  are  half  an  age  behind  us  in  steamboats.  We 
tossed  like  an  egg-shell.  The  sea  broke  over  us,  so  that  the  deck 
was  soaking,  and  the  spray  like  rain.  Below — one  pavement  of 
emetic  ladies.  As  for  me,  except  the  ducking,  I  never  enjoyed 
any  thing  more.  I  could  not  stand  up,  but  I  felt  perfectly  trium- 
phant as  we  cut  through  the  waves.  Calais  in  sight.  What  a 
change  for  two  hours  !  Now  for  the  customs.  A  little  French- 
man, indescribably  quick  and  habile,  spies  out  the  Americans  in 
an  instant ;  attaches  himself  to  us  as  commissionaire ;  carries 
every  thing ;  takes  us  to  ofhce  to  show"  passports  ;  then  to  bureau 
to  change  our  sovereigns  for  French  money  ;  then  to  a  room, 
where  coffee  and  luncheon ;  then  to  an  office  to  get  our  ticket 
stamped ;  then  to  the  cars  to  secure  a  separate  carriage  for 
ladies,  &c. ;  then  to  weighing  place  (of  trunks)  ;  then  to  another 
office  where  baggage-tickets  are  given ;  then  to  cars  to  see  us 
locked  in.  All  this  (which  w^e  could  never  have  done  ourselves) 
little  Mons.  Marguerite  does  for  one  franc.  At  four  we  are  off 
on  the  newly-opened  railway.  Our  carriage  is  as  sumptuous  as 
the  finest  coach,  roomy  and  soft,  in  every  way  luxurious.  We 
had  235  miles  to  go  after  4  P.  M.  I  can  hardly  collect  my 
thoughts  to  tell  about  it.  All  the  trees,  even  in  what  seem  to 
be  woods,  are  planted  in  rows ;  all  trimmed,  except  the  innumer- 
able poplars,  which  look  like  green  pillars.  Perpetual  sight  of 
peasantry.  As  they  stop  to  look,  the  scenes  are  for  a  painter. 
They  wear  the  boldest  colours,  and  seldom  less  than  four  ;  high 
caps ;  groups  in  the  deep-green  hay  and  barley,  look  beautiful. 
Dear  little  children,  in  hues  of  the  rainbow,  held  up  by  fathers 
in  blouses  from  the  hay-fields.     Villages  on  villages  j  all  of  one 


1851.  315 

story  ;  all  either  tiled  or  thatched,  and  some  both  at  once.  At 
Amiens  the  beautiful  sun  was  going  down  in  the  western  plains, 
and  casting  a  blush  on  the  ancient  cathedral.  How  indebted  I 
am  to  the  "  Penny  Magazine  "  for  its  cuts  and  descriptions  !  At 
Douai  (where  the  Bible  was  translated)  the  whole  neighbourhood 
is  cut  up  into  ups  and  downs  by  the  fortifications,  and  the  green 
sides  of  the  moats  and  ramparts  were  filled  with  people.  They 
gathered  around  us,  but  in  the  most  civil  way.  The  peasant 
women  are  as  coarse  as  men.  It  was  still  daylight  when  we 
passed  Lille,  and  these  scenes  were  repeated  on  a  larger  scale. 
Arrived  at  an  enormous  station-house  in  the  north  of  Paris,  we 
take  an  omnibus  for  the  Hotel,  and  roll  through  lighted  streets. 
Thousands  sitting  out  in  the  rue  de  la  Faix,  &c.,  even  at  midnight. 

After  breakfast  next  day,  I  took  a  drive  in  a  cab  ;  stopped  to 
deliver  my  letters  to  Dr.  F.  Monod.  The  concierge  says  :  "  to 
the  left,  second  floor."  I  ascend ;  see  door  marked  "  Monod, 
Pasteur."  I  send  in  my  name ;  instantly  I  am  seized  and  kissed 
on  both  cheeks,  not  by  good  Dr.  M.,  but  by  Mr.  Bridel,  who 
remembers  me  in  an  instant.     Adolphe  Monod  lives  opposite.^ 

Besides  our  general  view  of  the  President  [Louis  Napoleon] 
at  the  review  of  the  Champ  de  Mars,  [p.  142,]  we  had  two 
several  occasions  of  looking  him  closely  in  the  lace,  at  corners 
where  our  pushing  driver  drew  up.  We  w^ere  enveloped  in  the 
enthusiastic  crowd,  who  began  with  Vive  la  Repvhlique,  and 
ended  with  a  universal  shout  of  Vive  VEmpercitr  !  AVomen  ran 
like  mad  among  the  tramping  of  the  horses.  The  cortege  was 
preceded  by  guards  holding  cocked  pistols,  and  followed  by  the 
carabinicrs  in  brazen  helmets  and  cuirasses,  which  sounded  as 
they  rode.  All  the  troops  were  regulars.  I  never  expected  to 
see  such  a  review,  as  they  commonly  Ml  on  Sunday.  All  the 
fine  equipages  seem  English,  as  do  all  the  beautiful  children. 
The  creatures  that  go  about  in  sabots,  and  run  after  you  with 
bouquets,  or  carry  great  panniers  on  their  backs,  are  brutally 
hideous.  The  grisettes  in  shops,  and  the  trim  little  women  in 
caps,  that  trip  along  every  moment,  are  well-dressed,  and  graceful 
to  a  degree.  There  is  nothing  in  England  like  the  Avenue  cles 
Champs  Elysees,  or  the  Concorde,  or  the  Louvre,  or  the  fortifi- 
cations, or  the  middle  age  piles  of  the  Cite,  or  the  quays,  or  the 
Arche  de  Triomphe.  this  last  fills  my  eye  more  than  any  thing 
architectural  I  have  seen.  But  I  love  London  more.  I  miss 
the  ever-present  police,  always  kind  and  ready,  giving  you  a 
sense  of  protection  wherever  you  are.  And  then  there  are  not 
ten  men  in  Prance  whom  I  could  care  to  go  ten  miles  to  see ; 
whereas  I  can  name  a  hundred  in  London. 

^  Dr.  A.  Monod  died  April  6,  1856. 


316  LETTEES   FEOM   EUROPE. 

On  the  23cl,  I  passed  through  lines  of  soldiers  to  the  south 
side  of  the  National  Assembly.  Place  assigned  me  in  the 
gallery,  opposite  the  tribune  and  President's  chair.  Assemble 
at  two.  President  has  an  enormous  bell,  which  he  rings  to  keep 
order.  Heard  a  speech  from  Leroux,  and  a  long  one  from 
Laurent.  Then  for  a  long  walk,  along  the  matchless  Avenue, 
through  the  Tuileries,  among  hundreds  of  statues,  deep  shade  of 
trees,  and  thousands  of  flowers  to  the  Champs  Elysees.  Scores 
of  amusements  among  the  trees.  All  the  working-people  of 
Paris  seem  pouring  into  these  artificial  forests.  Punch  and 
Judy.  Cripples  with  music.  Flying-horses  and  circulating 
boats.  Dancing  dogs.  Two  little  open-air  theatres,  with  numer- 
ous singers  and  large  orchestra.  These  immense  forests,  called 
gardens,  are  used  by  the  Parisians  as  nursery,  smoking-room,  and 
study.  The  people  live  out  of  doors.  All  the  men  seem  to  be 
either  priests  or  soldiers,  so  the  women  keep  the  shops. 

In  the  2^(iys  Latin  I  was  in  a  little  rapture.  The  Hotel  Cluny 
gave  me  impressions  for  life.  These  old  black,  grim,  fimous, 
conic-topped  towers,  fill  all  my  mental  blanks  au  sujet  of  the 
middle  ages.  In  the  rue  St.  Jacques^  that  long,  long,  tumble- 
down street,  I  began  to  breathe  afresh,  as  in  the  Old  Jewry,  &c., 
but  with  more  hoary  and  romantic  souvenirs.  The  inside  of 
French  churches  is  stable-like,  compared  with  St.  George's, 
"Windsor,  or  Henry  VII.'s  chaj)el. 

One  morning  I  took  my  early  coffee  at  a  laiticre^s.  Saw  the 
sale  of  milk,  and  the  perfect  courtesy  and  elegance  of  the 
servants  who  came  for  it.  I  have  learnt  to  bow  to  the  lady 
when  I  enter  a  cafe  ;  this  was,  however,  a  plebeian  shoj),  the  cafes 
were  not  open.  On  returning,  I  found  that  IMr.  Rives  had  called 
in  person,  and  afterwards  had  sent  me  his  silver  medal  to  admit 
me  for  the  day  to  the  diplomatic  tribune,  the  best  place  for  seeing 
and  hearing ;  so  I  shall  go  again.  I  have  seen  the  chief  notabilities 
of  France  in  the  Chamber.  Soldiers  are  just  as  numerous  as 
bees  in  a  hive.  The  red-legged  regulars  are  the  meanest  crea- 
tures, singly,  I  ever  saw.  The  enthusiasm  for  Louis  Napoleon 
is  great.  I  am  sick  of  seeing  on  every  church,  house,  and  wall, 
"  Liberte,  Egalite,  Fraternite."  It  is  positively  babyish.  I  miss 
the  noble  English  policemen.  It  is  advised  not  to  ask  the 
soldiers  ;  they  are  provincials,  and  know  nothing.  I  find  the 
priests  most  suave  and  agreeable,  and  they  speak  such  French ; 
for  much  of  the  jumble  of  the  badaucls  is  incomprehensible. 
French  7ne)i  do  not  compare  with  the  English,  but  for  one  good- 
looking,  gracefid  English  woman,  there  are  800  French.  I  observe 
two  marked  classes  of  women :  the  peasantry,  who  work  like 
horses  and  walk  like  oxen,  and  the  Parisians,  who  are  light, 


1851.  317 

graceful,  and  bien  mises.     French  chilclren  are  no  touch  to  the 
little  an^elic  things  of  Kensington  Gardens. 

I  wish  you  could  get  one  glimpse  of  the  Boulevards.     Con- 
ceive of  a  curved  street,  a  bow,  of  which  the  Seine  forms  the 
bowstring.    Make  this  twice  as  wide  as  Broadway.     Line  it  with 
lofty  hou'ses  ;  set  two  rows  of  large  trees  in  a  sidewalk  twice  as 
wide  as  the  widest  in  New  York  ;  illuminate  this  like  daylight ; 
fill  it  with  thousands  on  thousands  of  holiday-people ;  imagme 
cafes  and  restaurants  with  fronts  all  plate-glass,  and  interiors  all 
marble,  mirror,  and  gold  ;  then  add  chairs  filling  almost  all  the 
space  on  the  sidewalk,  occupied  by  well-dressed  people,  eating 
and  drinkinij,  and  this  nearly  all  night.     Even  the  poor  do  every 
thino-  ill  pu])lic  view\     Before  a  bit  of  a  shoe-shop,  the  man, 
woman,  and  children  cut  their  loaf  and  hand  about  their  bottle, 
and  clack,  and  bandy  compliments,  as  if  no  mortal  were  near 
them.     This  is  repeated  during  this  ambrosial  weather  every 
few  paces  for  miles.     In  the  old  quarters,  near  the  Pont  Neuf, 
or  Hotel  de  Ville,  (town-house,)  where  the  streets  are  about  as 
wide  as  a  bed,  the  swarms  of  people  look,  I  suppose,  just  as  five 
hundred  years  ago.     They  live  on  bread  and  wine.     The  bread 
is  weighed  in  the  shops.     I  even  see  broken  crusts  sold.     The 
people   live   miserably  inside  of    their   houses.     A  tailor,   for 
example,  has  a  bedroom  up  eight  pair  of  stairs,  and  over  the 
river,  and  no  sitting-room.     His  shop  is  all  glass  and  gold.     His 
wife  keeps  a  brilliant  cafe,  as  idol  or  presidente ;  i.  e.  if  she  is 
very  handsome.     After  work-hours  they  are  all  the  time  m  the 
public  gardens  and  places,  breakfast  and  dine  in  the  open  air,  and 
look  like  Ahasuerus  and  Vashti ;  as  Cobbett  says :  "  pigs  in  the 
parlour  peacocks  on  the  promenade."     Still  these  funny  creatures 
are  full  of  "  Monsieur  "  and  "  Madame,"  and  full  af  gesture  and 
smiles.      The   genteel   Trench   people    are    perfectly   graceful. 
When  I  go  to  while  away  an  hour  over  an  ice,  always  accom- 
panied by  a  wdiole  decanter  of  ice-water,  frozen  around  the  inner 
surface,  I  study  the  groups  of  three,  four,  and  ten.     They  are 
dressed  to  a  marvel,  as  to  fit,  colour,  and  mise.     They  never 
stare  at  you,  or  seem  to  know  you  are  near.     They  have  no 
formal  bows  or  motions.     I  observe  nothing  which  would  be 
unusual   in   a   first-class    New  York   parlour,  except  a  certain 
smirk,  arising  from  a  feeling  that  one  must  always  speak  with  a 
smile.'    The  people  look  American;    for  we  get  our  fashions 
here.     The  better  sort,  as  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  (Cavaignac, 
Lafayette,  Lamartine,)  are  like  very  plain  American  gentlemen  ; 
only  some  have  a  scarcely  visible  show  of  crimson  ribbon  m  the 
second  top  button-hole— the  decoration  of  the  legion  of  Honour. 
Dr.  Monod  wears  one.     A.  Monod  is  a  beautiful,  saintly  man, 


318 


LETTERS   FEOM   EUROPE. 


for  elegant,  primitive  simplicity.  Every  Thursday  lie  has  a 
general  reception,  and  probably  does  more  good  than  by  preach- 
ing. Prayers  in  French  before  tea.  Fine  singing  from  the 
"  Chants  Chretiens."  I  could  not  help  thinking,  at  one  of  these 
soirees,  I  never  saw  so  much  simplicity,  so  much  polish,  and  so 
much  affection,  mingled.  My  father  would  have  been  pleased 
with  the  sweet  quietness  of  "'the  girls.  Almost  all  the  conver- 
sation was  religious. 

Parisians  hear  music  every  hour  for  nothing,  which  it  would 
take  large  sums  to  procure  in  America.     I  catculated  that  one 
might  hear  gratis  thirty  orchestras  and  150  singers,  any  evening 
in  the  Champs  Elysees.     The  music  in  the  Madeleine,  St.  Eocli^ 
Notre  Dame,  St.  Etienne,  Notre  Dame  de  Lorette,  and  St.  Vin- 
cent  de  Paul,  is  rococo,  and  probably  equal  to  any  out  of  the 
Pope's  chapel.     The  solos  of  a  distant,  lamenting  female  voice, 
tremolo,  7ninore,  diminuendo,  contrasted  Avith  a  crash  of  a  hundred 
instruments,  and  then  a  hundred  voices  like  Russell's,  [deep  bass,] 
and  the  interspersed  canto  fermo,  or  austere  Gregorian  chant, 
centuries  old,  combine  with  the  tableau  vivani  of  a  priestly  panto- 
mime of  purple  and  gold  chasubles,  (the  mantle  with  cross,)  and 
the  yet  more  imposing  long  white  flowing  robe  of  cambric  over 
pink,  girt  with  pink — the  young  priests  being  picked  for  their 
figure— to  make  a  bewitching  show,  which  intoxicates  poor  female 
worshippers  into  a  trance  of  ambiguous  rapture,  which  they  deem 
religion.     I  think  the  magic  of  anti-christian  pomp  has  attained 
its  acme.     Poor  Puseyism,  compared  with  what  it  imitates,  is  but 
pewter  to  gold  and  rubies.     They  have  made  a  separate  art  of 
the  dressing  and  marshalling  of  hundreds  of  officiating  persons, 
who  move  or  stand  with  the  height  of  solemn  grace,  and  the 
overpowering  combination  of  costume,  the  prelates,  the  priests 
in  heavy  purple  or  crimson,  gilt — the  younger  clergy,  imitating 
the  white-robed  angels  of  their  pictures,'  the  nuns,  (most  of  them 
seemed  crying,  with  swollen  eyes,)  the  little  boys  in  pure  white, 
and  the  innumerable  girls,  in  veils.     I  observed  that  men,  who 
looked  like  emperors  at  the  distant  altar,  were  canal-men  and 
bravos,  when  they  passed  me  in  the  procession. 

"When  an  eminent  speaker  in  the  House  of  Commons  said, 
this^  week,  that  none  of  the  Dissenters  went  over  to  Popery, 
adding  that  the  existing  plan  of  Oxonian  training  tended  to 
rear  up  Romanists,  he  uttered  what  any  eye  may  see  confirmed 
in  Paris.  Who  would  not,  if  he  goes  pomp-hunting,  prefer  the 
real  old  middle-aged  mummery  to  the  would-if-I-could-ish  simula- 
tion of  it  ?  Frequent  visits  to  Popish  celebrations,  must  lead 
truly  Protestant  minds  to  doubt  the  possibility  of  giving  any  aid 
w^hatever  to  genuine  worship,  by  the  appliances  of  costly  archi- 


1S51.  319 

tectiire,  graphic  representations,  and  elaborate  music.  '•  Christian 
Art,"  in  the  sense  of  the  modern  art-mad  school,  there  is  none. 
The  highest  philosophy  of  cultus — if  the  phrase  may  be  allowed 
— leads  to  the  most  simple  and  apostolic  rites. 

It  is  high  time  that  America  and  Britain  were  bestirrino- 
themselves  to  send  light  and  leaven  into  this  continent.     M.  Gas- 
parin  has  lately  given  some  frightful  accounts  of  once  evangelical 
Germany.     Among  his  statements  are  these  :  Public  worship  is 
disregarded.     In   Berlin,  out  of    four  hundred  thousand  souls, 
there  are  three  hundred  thousand  who  never  attend  any  of  the 
thirty-two  churches.     Dr.  Tholuck  declares  that,  a  few  months 
ago,  at  Halle,  in  the  principal  service  of  the  cathedral  there  were 
present  fourteen  persons ;  in  another  church  six,  and  in  a  third 
five  !     Next  day  he  attended  a  sermon,  of  which  he  was  the  only 
auditor  !     The  theatres  are  as  full  as  the  churches  are  empty.     Is 
it  wonderful,  when  we  regard  the  tendency  of  German  philos- 
ophy'?     The  papers  of  the  tailor  Weithing  are  published   by 
the  state  authority  of  Zurich.     Delecke  makes  fun   of   poor 
timid  Voltaire  and  Diderot,  "  who  never  were  prepared  to  look 
on  man  as  the  culminating  point  of  existence."     Marv  and  his 
fellows  say : — "  The  idea  of  God  is  the  key  to  the  dungeon  of 
mouldy  civilization.     Let  us  away  with  it.     The  true  road  to 
liberty,  equality,  and  happiness,  is  atheism.     Let  us  teach  man 
that  there  is  no  God  but  himself."     Wiehern  testifies  that  emis- 
saries are  out,  that  schools  of  atheism  are  founded  very  widely, 
under  the  guise  of  reading  clubs  and  singing  societies. 

M.  Thiers  has  made  a  speech  against  free  trade,  which, 
independently  of  the  topic,  is  considered  the  greatest  speech  of 
the  session.  All  the  left  side,  his  opponents,  joined  in  the  accla- 
mation. I  don't  believe  tliat  Demosthenes  ever  showed  more 
tact  in  "  wielding  the  fierce  democraty."  His  triumph  as  an 
orator  is  complete,  though  the  question  may  go  against  him. 
This  government  feels  itself  in  great  danger.  These  amazing 
gatherings  of  soldiery  show  it.  They  are  from  distant  provinces. 
Everywhere  you  see  casernes  taking  the  place  of  other  buildings. 
People  feel  the  mortification  of  this  under  a  Republic.  Two 
spies  attend  poor  Mr.  Close's  little  chapel !  The  police  is  three- 
fold :  1,  soldiers  ;  2,  police  without  uniform  ;  3,  unknown  spies, 
(waiters,  guards,  valets,  drivers,  &c.)  Thank  God  for  our  gospel 
and  our  freedom  ! 

In  the  number  of  animals  the  Garden  of  Plants  is  surpassed 
by  the  London  Zoological  Gardens ;  but  what  surpass  its  gar- 
dens, trees,  walks,  buildings,  museums,  fountains,  and  free  lec- 
tures ?  Constantly  open  to  the  people.  Every  tree  of  every 
climate ;  all  flowers  of  the  world  in  numbers  of  enclosed  gardens, 


320  LETTEES   FEOM  EUEOPE. 

with  paths  between ;  every  plant  labelled  with  the  botanical  name, 
and  all  arranged  by  families.  The  museums  of  natural  history, 
the  mineralogical  and  geological  and  paleontological  collections  of 
Cuvier,  Hauy,  and  Jussieu,  the  collections  of  fossils  and  compara- 
tive anatomy,  kept  me  perpetually  wondering.  The  buildings  are 
numerous  and  extensive.  The  Cedar  of  Lebanon,  which  is  a 
colossal  tree,  repaid  me  for  all  my  weariness.  It  is  ten  feet  round, 
near  the  branches. 

The  palace  of  Versailles  might  occupy  a  volume.  It  would 
take  a  month  to  see  it  well.  In  my  ignorance  I  thought  all  these 
palaces,  with  their  grounds,  not  a  hundredth  part  so  extensive  as 
they  are.  I  did  not  figure  to  myself  miles  of  avenue,  trees  of 
all  zones,  thousands  of  statuary,  spaces  so  ample  as  to  remind 
one  of  American  forests  and  prairies,  and  chambers  so  numerous 
that  the  foot  wearies  before  they  are  half  traversed. 

I  attended  a  lecture  on  history  in  the  College  of  Sorbonne. 
Entered  the  library,  filled  with  quiet  students  reading ;  a  priest 
presides.  Library  of  St.  Genevieve;  what  a  place!  Tran- 
scendent loftiness  and  beauty  ;  200,000  volumes  ;  100  reading  ; 
copy  of  Rafaelle's  School  of  Athens  as  large  as  the  side  of  a  house. 

On  the  5th  (July)  I  went  to  church,  expecting  to  hear  Monod. 
The  old  psalms  did  me  good.  The  old  Huguenot  look  was  in 
some  of  the  Frenchmen.  Just  before  the  second  singing,  a 
sparrow  tried  to  get  into  a  window  over  the  pulpit.  Immediately 
they  sang  Psalm  Ixxxiv.  3.  The  preacher  was  ]\I.  Enfoux,  of 
Geneva.  I  dined  at  the  table  d'hote ;  nineteen  changes  of  plates. 
On  my  right,  a  Russian  lady  and  four  daughters  ;  they  spoke 
English,  Erench,  German,  and  Russ.  On  my  left  a  party  of 
fme  Eno-lish.  I  love  to  meet  decent  English  people  ;  you  look 
in  their^^faces  and  believe  them.  In  the  evening  I  went  to  Wes- 
leyan  chapel,  and  heard  the  minister,  young  Mr.  Close,  preach  a 
beautiful  orthodox  sermon ;  full  and  able  on  original  sin.  About 
a  hundred  were  there. 

I  sicken  at  the  everlasting  sight  of  bayonets  and  swords,  and 
the  feeling  of  espionage.  There  never  was  a  stronger  police 
under  an  autocrat.  I  am  weary  of  speaking  broken  French, 
though  the  courtesy  of  every  class  passes  description.  So  do 
the  vastness,  beauty,  and  keeping  of  public  institutions.^  Fifty 
thousand  persons  are  maintained  in  these  charities.  Under  a 
polish,  which  reaches  almost  the  lowest  of  the  canaille,  there  is 
a  i^odlessness  which  is  horrible.  Leaving  out  a  few  names  in 
Sa'iTlis,  blessed  ministers  and  people,  whose  love  seems  the  greater 
for  insulation,  this  beautiful,  matchless,  glorious  capital  is  Satan's 
seat.  Words  fail— paper  must  not  aid— to  report  the  moral 
rottenness  of  a  generation  brought  up  hi  bloody  infidelity.     The 


1851.  321 

fear  of  God,  producing  truth,  is  lacking.  Yet  of  ceremonious 
religion  there  Is  vast  increase.  The  priests,  in  black  garments, 
go  about  the  streets.  Yet  evil  as  popery  is,  it  owns  a  Saviour, 
prayer,  a  heaven  and  hell,  and  a  God.  There  is  a  school  growing 
rampant,  which  denies  each  or  all  of  these. 

The  chief  thought  I  had  in  these  fairy-land  palaces  and  Eden 
pleasaunces,  was  of  the  monarchs,  and  great  ones,  who  had  been 
violently  torn  from  them ;  Louis  XVL,  Napoleon,  Charles  X., 
Louis  Philippe.  The  chief  thought  as  I  gazed  from  the  north 
balcony  of  St.  Cloud  on  the  incomparable  view  of  Paris  and  the 
great  spaces  around  and  between,  was,  will  God's  justice  suffer 
this  wicked  country  to  remain  unvisited  1  The  chief  personal  re- 
flections were,  I  love  American  simple  nature  more  than  ever, 
and  American  freedom  of  religion  more  than  any  words  can  utter. 
I  love  and  covet  these  matchless  and  incredible  wonders  less 
than  my  dear  fireside ;  1  less  than  ever  wish  ornaments  for  my 
church,  or  ornaments  for  my  house.  O  for  the  purity  and  peace 
of  Christ's  religion  for  all  I  love  ! 

Dijon,  July  10,  1851. 
To-day  I  have  been  in  a  fairy-land  all  the  while.  O  la  belle 
France  !  It  is  just  the  word.  By  stage  I  can  understand  how 
it  might  be  very  tedious,  but  by  luxuriously  rapid  and  well- 
appointed  rails,  it  was  just  the  sliding  of  one  ravishing  picture 
over  another.  A  few  elements  in  bewitching  combination — this 
is  the  secret  of  French  landscape.  The  time  is  flivourable. 
Every  thing  is  in  its  glory.  The  early  part  of  the  day  we  were 
almost  always  dashing  through  the  valley  of  some  river.  The 
valley  is  a  prairie  exactly  ;  we  see  the  gentle  barrier  on  each 
side.  Towards  evening  we  began  to  be  sensible  of  a  great  change. 
The  scene  became  rugged.  We  went  through  tunnels  of  thousands 
of  feet.  Bare  rocks  expose  themselves,  and  at  length  the  basin 
(in  which  we  seem  always  to  be)  shows  around  its  further  edge 
mountains  and  beginnings  of  what  we  are  going  to  have  anon. 
We  pass  the  watershed,  and  are  in  a  new  w^orld ;  every  thing 
is  changed.  Geology,  houses,  dress,  almost  sky,  seem  new.  I 
have  come  into  the  land  of  St.  Bernard  !  I  am  in  the  heart  of 
Burgundy,  a  dukedom  greater  than  many  realms.  Every  village 
has  had  some  memory,  all  day  long,  but  now  we  are  nearing  the 
central  region  of  a  country  most  famous.  France  is  as  green  as 
England,  and  along  here  as  much  of  a  garden;  but  O  how 
pensive  from  the  total  absence  of  cottages !  Every  inch  is  tilled 
except  where  perpendicular.  No  forest,  but  tens  of  millions  of 
trees,  all  planted  and  very  scattering,  now  in  clumps,  now  in 
rows.     I  have  certainly  this  day  seen  a  hundred  miles  of  poplars. 

VOL.  II.— 14* 


322  LETTERS   FEOM   EUKOPE. 

In  the  boundless  champaign  of  tiUage,  they  seem  as  necessary 
to  the  scene  as  the  spires  of  HoHand.  Why  am  I  so  often  re- 
minded of  Old  Virginia  ?  I  will  tell  you.  In  England,  or  even 
New  England  and  New  York,  the  eye  would  behold  the  plain 
cut  up  by  hedges,  &c.  Here,  as  in  Virginia,  though  for  a  different 
reason,  all  is  open.  Yonder  is  a  view  of  rolling  land,  descending 
rounded  towards  the  river  we  are  skirting.  Ten  thousand  acres 
lie  over  the  round  haunch  of  the  broad  swell,  as  perfect  a  garden 
as  I  ever  saw,  but  so  mottled  that  every  one  of  us  compared  it, 
over  and  over,  to  a  bedquilt ;  a  patch  of  wheat,  a  patch  of  rye, 
a  patch  of  mustard,  a  patch  of  broom,  a  patch  of  walnuts,  the 
ground  of  all  being  vineyard,  vineyard,  vineyard,  in  a  green  like 
distant  Indian  corn.  Vineyards  are  exactly  like  pole  beans  of  a 
certain  height.  In  certain  situations  they  are  very  beautiful,  as 
to-day,  Avhen  ever  and  anon  th6y  hang  over  the  round  bank  of 
land  next  the  horizon,  like  hanks  of  green  yarn  over  a  hedge. 
Observe,  the  prospect  is  so  vast,  and  so  unobstructed  by  trees, 
that  fields  look  like  squares  of  chess,  only  oblong,  and  no  division 
breaks  the  continuity  except  a  sweet,  fairy-road,  winding  away 
among  vines  and  wheat,  with,  it  may  be,  a  cart  load  of  girls,  all 
colours,  under  broad  brims  of  straw,  with  pitchforks.  We  have 
seen  miles  of  hay-making,  with  five  hundred  groups,  no  one  of 
which  Avould  disgrace  a  picture  of  Claude.  You  know  all  the 
people  live  in  villages.  These  villages,  at  this  season  of  deep 
verdure,  seem  always  to  be  nestling.  You  wonder  how  the 
houses  can  squat  and  huddle  so.  They  cluster  around  the  little 
church,  like  sheep  around  the  ram,  as  close,  as  irregular.  All 
are  of  a  colour,  rusty  russet  red,  tops  are  same  as  sides.  In 
themselves  ugly  and  mean,  as  parts  of  a  rapid  landscape  very 
snug  and  beautiful.  What  remembrances  crowd  in  during  200 
miles  of  road  carrying  one  deep  into  the  ancient  feudal  soil ! 
Here  were  the  Gauls  ;  here  was  Coesar  ;  we  have  passed  several 
towns  named  by  him.  Here  were  the  barons  and  monks  of  the 
middle  ages.  Here  were  Burgundian  princes,  who  were  all  but 
kings,  and  yonder  are  their  castles,  black  with  age  and  awfully 
frowning  over  the  sweet  peaceful  soil.  Here,  as  you  approach 
Dijon,  were  the  walks  of  Bernard's  and  of  Bossuet's  childhood. 

Dijon  !  I  now  understand  what  an  old  rocky  French  town 
is.  I  never  can  describe  it.  Everybody  here  as  fresh  as  Irish. 
I  wonder  at  the  hale,  happy  look  of  all.  But  we  are  high  up  ; 
all  the  way  from  Paris  to  this  vicinity,  we  have  been  going  up 
the  streams.  Every  thing  in  the  air  is  like  Lexington,  [Virginia,] 
or  Schooley's  Mountain,  [New  Jersey.]  At  a  glance  we  see  we 
are  in  the  old  Burgundian  capital.  Quiet,  pleasant  old  to^vn. 
Our  first  visit  was  to  the  celebrated  Museum.     Men  and  girls 


1851.  323 

are  copying  in  the  galleries.  Among  the  signs  of  decreasing 
population,  several  churches  are  perverted  to  other  uses — one 
is  a  corn-market,  another  a  fruit-market,  a  third  a  fodder-market. 

Geneva,  July  13 — 17,  1851. 
The  complexion,  though  we  go  south  from  Dijon  to  Geneva, 
gets  clearer  and  clearer  as  we  ascend,  and  I  see  many  a  blue  eye, 
reminding  me  of  the  Germanic  origin  of  the  Burgundian  stock. 
The  ploughs  have  a  wheel  and  four  horses,  and  they  plough  very 
shallow.  Great  industry.  Nobody  looks  unhealthy  or  suffering. 
Roses  abound,  and  many  times  I  meet  peasants  in  the  road,  carry- 
ing each  a  rose  in  his  mouth.  The  houses,  as  we  gradually  rose, 
assume  a  trace  of  the  Swiss  cottage,  so  that  when  I  saw  a  real 
chalet,  I  was  not  surprised  at  all.  The  great  wooden  shoe  looks 
crippling,  especially  on  children.  Thatch  on  almost  every  house, 
about  nine  inches  thick,  often  covered  with  a  deep  moss.  Thus 
must  these  higgledy-piggledy  towns  have  looked  500  years  ago. 
These  plains  are  rich,  and  tempted  warriors.  Therefore  the 
houses  are  thick  and  defensible.  Therefore  also  the  people 
gathered  in  villages.  We  began  to  see  single  cows  led  by  a 
string,  to  crop  along  the  road's  edge.  Cattle  generally  a  reddish 
dun.  Oxen  yoked  from  the  horns.  The  expanse  of  hay-fields 
or  prairies  amazed  and  delighted  me.  The  swell  of  the  land 
increased  as  we  advanced,  and  with  it  the  beauty  of  the  prospect. 
"  That  great  mountain  "  Jura,  which  we  thus  approached,  is  very 
long  and  very  broad,  made  up  of  parallel  ridges,  together  shaped 
like'  the  back  of  a  mighty  ox.  At  certain  turns  we  saw  the 
peak  of   Mont  Blanc,  like  amber.     It  is  beyond  Switzerland, 

being  in  Savoy. 

We  breakflisted  at  Champagnolle,  having  left  Dijon  at  oh 
A.  M.  I  am  perpetually  asking  myself  "  can  this  be  France '? " 
when  I  look  at  the  beautiful  skins.  True  the  hard  workers  burn 
nearly  mulatto,  but  the  children  and  some  women  are  of  perfect 
red  and  white,  and  even  the  men  show  such  blond  that  you 
wonder  to  hear  French  out  of  their  mouths.  In  descending 
these  sides,  the  valleys  and  gorges  begin  to  assume  more  and 
more  an  amphitheatrical  shape,  and  we  found  ourselves  running 
sheer  round  the  shoulder  of  great  cliffs,  with  the  depth  opening 
green  and  solemn  below,  often  with  herds  and  cottages  in  the 
very  fundus.  How  little  did  I  expect  to  be  so  long  crossing 
Mt.  Jura,  or  to  ascend  it  at  a  canter  and  almost  a  gallop.  Ghylls 
or  becks,  little  foaming  streams,  dashed  across  our  way.  Greater 
streams,  white  with  rage,  ran  beside  us.  1  remember  one 
cascade  of  snow,  which  poured  out  of  a  field  of  emerald.  It 
was  young  hemp.    Every  inch  is  rescued  where  a  hoe  can  enter. 


324  LETTEKS   FEOM   EUROPE. 

One  sees  hay-making  girls,  under  broad  flats,  in  a  little  rug  of 
land,  away  over  among  the  inaccessible  rocks.  The  valleys 
have  a  green,  which  is  black  ;  the  very  air  seems  changed ;  the 
effect  is  not  melancholy  but  an  awful  serenity.  As  we  get  more 
among  proper  mountaineers,  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  mankind, 
it  is  pleasing  to  observe  how  the  family  feeling  becomes  more 
manifest.  Fifty  times  I  saw  what  I  thought  a  family,  on  some 
knoll,  by  some  spring,  down  some  well-like  plunge  of  green 
with  a  house  at  the  bottom ;  three  sisters  with  broad  Leghorn 
flats,  and  haymakers  under  a  tree ;  babies  held  by  others  little 
bigger,  that  the  mothers  might  hoe  or  drive.  No  poetry  or 
fiction  can  reach  the  reality  of  such  scenes,  occurring  every  moment, 
and  amid  such  sights  and  such  air. 

On  the  beautiful  evening  of  the  12th,  we  drove  into  lovely 
Geneva,  a  beauty  in  the  midst  of  sublimity.^  AYe  have  been 
greatly  favoured  in  weather,  for  it  is  said  that  there  are  not  more 
than  fift}'  days  in  the  year  which  furnish  a  perfectly  clear  view 
of  Mont  Blanc,  and  we  have  had  three  of  them,  and  seen  the 
full  moon  rise  above  it,  which  could  only  happen  with  great 
southing.  As  I  now  see  it,  it  is  rose-colour  in  one  part,  while, 
as  the  sun  declines,  the  left-hand  portion  assumes  a  ghastly 
bluish  pallor,  which  must  remind  every  one  of  death.  I  had 
never  thought  much  of  this  thing  of  hues.  This  very  day  (the  • 
14th)  as  I  was  walking  along  the  delightful  avenue,  skirting  the 
south  side  of  the  lake  to  Dr.  Merle's  residence  in  Eaux  Vives,  I 
suddenly  found  the  perspective  ending  in  the  placid  Leman.  But 
what  a  j)lay  of  hues  !  The  foreground  avenue  all  deep-green ; 
the  nearer  water  pea-green ;  the  tilled  lands  just  below,  a  veil 
of  lilac ;  the  mountains  beyond  that  a  crystalline  hue,  shading 
off  into  pearly  clouds  and  blue  heaven. 

Who  would  have  thouo;ht,  that  Geneva  could  have  been 
turned  into  such  a  stamping-ground !  ^  The  park  or  wood  on 
the  northern  eminence  is  full  of  booths,  stalls,  shows,  and  gam- 
bling tables.  The  variety  of  gamblings  is  great.  Women 
generally  keep  the  tables,  and  children  are  inducted  into  the 
mysteries.  Some  are  rolling  balls  for  eatables  ;  some  shooting 
a  cross-bow  at  a  taro;et,  over  which  a  rude  Libertv  rises,  on 
each  shot,  with  the  appropriate  information  that  she  purposes  to 
go  round  the  globe.  Here  are  flying-horses,  more  rapid  and 
comical  than  in  Paris  or  anywhere  else,  having  one  row  of 
whirlers  within  another,  going  not  merely  on  horses,  but  on 

^  Dr.  Alexander  found  great  pleasure  and  assistance,  during  bis  Alpine 
travels,  and  to  Heidelberg,  in  tbe  company  of  the  Eev.  J.  "W".  Newton,  chap- 
lain of  the  TJ.  S.  Navy,  and  formerlv  of  the  Edgehill  School  at  Princeton. 

2  The  Tir  Federal :   see  page  148. 


1851.  325 

swans,  sleigli-"bodies,  and  so  on.  Here  are  lotteries,  "  ou  Ton  ne 
perd  pas,"  and  dice-playing,  where  you  get  gingerbread  or 
knives.  Here  are  booths  of  cirques,  and  jugglers,  and  posture- 
makers,  most  primitive  in  kind,  and  outvying  Greenwich  Fair. 
I  never  could  have  expected  to  see  two  such  displays  of  un- 
American  sportiveness. 

Swiss  politics  is  in  much  commotion  about  these  times. 
Enjoying  freedom  for  ages,  except  when  the  French  had  them 
under,  they  are  nevertheless  practised  on  by  every  sort  of  French 
and  Italian  refugee.  What  is  in  the  mouths  of  every  one  about 
aristocracy,  is  very  much  like  the  same  talk  in  France,  during 
the  years  preceding  the  reign  of  terror.  Yet,  when  I  think  of 
the  past,  when  I  look  on  the  face  of  nature  here,  and  especially 
when  I  contemplate  the  thousands  of  mountain  men  and  women 
now  in  Geneva,  so  fresh,  frank,  hearty,  honest,  and  Protestant, 
I  hope  strongly  that  God  has  something  better  in  reserve  for  the 
sons  of  Tell,  as  they  love  to  call  themselves. 

I  have  seen  four  priests  going  about  in  the  black  robes  of 
their  detestable  order.  There  is  a  rookery  of  Jesuits  here,  and 
they  have  set  the  sisters  of  Charity  a-going,  as  most  likely  to 
win  our  Protestants  by  acts  of  real  humanity.  The  number  of 
papists  in  Geneva  is  about  10,000.  The  more  I  see  of  the  pomp 
of  Romanism — and  I  have  seen  perhaps  as  much  as  could  be 
seen  out  of  Rome — the  more  I  am  in  love  with  simple  archi- 
tecture and  simple  worship. 

Geneva,  Jid]j  19,  1851. 
I  have  just  returned  here,  fifty-one  miles  from  Chamonix. 
It  is  summer,  and  European  summer,  without  summer-clothes, 
summer  debility,  or  summer  insects.  Geneva  is  full  of  English. 
Sir  R.  Peel  is  near  me,  and  Lord  Vernon  and  Lady  Vane  prob- 
ably in  the  house.  Lord  Vernon  put  twenty  balls  in  the  centre 
of  one  of  the  targets  the  first  day  of  the  shooting  match.  The 
distant  mountains  interest  me  most ;  near  by  they  are  too  cold, 
cloudy,  and  frightful.  The  sights  one  sees  are  some\Ahat,  but 
nothing  to  the'^millions  of  thoughts  which  the  sights  awaken. 
The  sights  are  only  the  keys ;  the  thoughts  are  the  music.  Many 
a  mark  is  in  E.'s  Bible  of  spots,  where  I  have  read  God's  words 
under  the  tremendous  shadow  of  mountain  walls  reaching  to 
heaven,  and  by  torrents  pure  and  beautiful,  leaping  and  foaming 
down  the  perpendicular  but  broken  sides  of  deep  vales.  The 
dark,  but  clear  atmosphere,  caused  by  the  elevation,  the  un- 
paralleled verdure,  the  shadow  of  giant  mountains,  and  the  play 
of  altogether  novel  lights  and  shades,  affect  me  even  more  than 
the  summits  of  the  great  Alps.     I  could  slightly  imagine  the 


326  LETTEES   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

latter  ;  the  other  is  entirely  beyond  every  descriptive  power.  I 
have  thought  of  an  eclipse  ;  but  there  is  no  melancholy.  It  is  a 
serene,  heavenly  awe.  The  very  potato  blossoms  look  pearly, 
and  shine  like  some  sort  of  brilliant  exotic.  This  shows  that  it 
is  the  air  and  light  which  produce  the  effect.  The  imminent 
and  terrific  passes  and  paths  make  even  the  horse  and  mule 
different  from  ours.  In  precipitous  ascents,  when  the  driver  dis- 
mounted, the  stout  muscular  horses  took  the  carriage  up  as  well 
without  him.  As  to  the  mules,  their  footing  is  next  to  a  miracle. 
They  always  take  the  outside  edge,  and  go  boldly  along  places 
more  difficult  than  the  bowsprit  of  a  ship. 

It  was  almost  like  home  when  I  reached  Geneva.  With 
its  lake,  its  suburban  parks  and  cain^mgyies,  its  nearer  hills,  and 
its  Alps  in  view,  it  is  the  loveliest  place  I  know.  Mr.  Newton 
and  I  united  in  thanking  God  for  the  wonders  of  these  three 
days,  and  for  good  tidings  from  home.  "  Let  the  God  of  my 
salvation  be  exalted." 

The  horrible  priest-riding  of  the  kingdom  of  Savoy,  smites 
me  everywhere.  The  priests  are  the  largest,  finest,  and  fattest. 
The  churches  are  solid  and  often  modern. 

O  how  a  bell  resounds  in  the  green  Alps  !  The  crosses  are 
as  frequent  as  milestones.  If  the  Virgin  could  weep,  it  would 
be  to  see  the  puppets  and  frights  which  represent  her  in  the 
wayside  shrines.  Swiss  families  seem  to  love  one  another  with 
intensity.  They  love  all  their  little  livestock.  What  a  blessed 
land  do  you  and  I  live  in,  where  poor  woman  is  not  turned  into 
a  beast !  I  am  sure  I  have  seen  girls  of  fourteen,  carrying  as 
much  straw  or  green  branches  as  would  fill  a  cart.  Their  heads 
are  used  for  this.  I  saw  one  woman  carrying  thus  a  closed  um- 
brella, and  another  a  heavy  pick-axe.  My  soul  is  weary  of 
soldiers.  The  sight  of  a  soldier  or  a  priest  makes  me  first 
angry,  and  then  sorrowful.  As  I  surveyed  the  boundless  arable 
lands  on  the  slopes  of  the  mountains,  which  contain  the  lower 
Arve,  all  one  map  of  varying  meadow,  garden,  and  harvest, 
unincumbered  by  fences,  dotted  with  sweet  cottages,  sprinkled 
with  trees  and  vines,  without  a  square  foot  in  a  state  of  nature, 
I  remembered  the  numberless  wars  between  Savoy  and  Geneva. 
And  when  I  looked  at  the  soldiers,  and  listened  to  the  fierce, 
radical  politics,  and  the  sounds  of  rifle-shooting  at  the  grand 
national  match,  I  was  made  sure  that  unless  God  interpose,  all 
this  sweet  land  will  be  given  up  again  to  fire  and  blood.  Yet 
these  Swiss  of  the  great  cantons  are  a  noble  race.  It  was  doubt- 
less the  best  of  them  I  saw  here,  during  the  great  democratic 
celebration.  The  mountain-girls,  in  costumes  of  every  cut,  were 
fresh  as  roses  and  brawny  as  boxers.     The  middle  of  the  streets 


1851.  32T 

was  their  walk.  Not  a  loud  word,  nor  a  disorderly  gesture.  To 
tell  the  truth,  they  looked  American  to  me,  and  1  laid  it  to  (1) 
Republicanism,  and  (2)  to  Protestantism ;  but  rather  of  their 
fathers  than  their  own. 

Here  the  wheat-harvest  is  in  its  glory.  I  looked  out  on 
rising,  and  saw  a  company  of  young  men  and  lasses  going  a-field. 
Their  sickles  were  all  fantastically  ranged  around  a  staff,  sur- 
mounted with  a  grand  bouquet,  and  borne  aloft  by  one  in  the 
middle.     They  make  a  play  of  every  thing. 

Yevat,  July  21,  1851. 

We  arrived  at  Vevay  by  steam  from  Geneva  on  the  19th, 
in  order  to  spend  the  Sabbath  in  one  of  the  loveliest,  quietest 
towns  in  Europe.  From  the  bank  here,  we  look  into  the  round- 
ing of  the  lake,  and  see  the  castle  of  Chillon.  We  took  a  caleche, 
and  visited  it  on  Saturday.  Without  an  interval  this  road  is 
walled  the  whole  way.  It  has  on  the  right  the  lake-shore,  vine- 
yards to  the  very  edge,  and  on  the  left,  the  swelling  round  moun- 
tains, vineyards  to  the  very  top.  So  populous  is  this  region, 
that  it  is  like  one  village  all  the  way.  Vevay  is  celebrated  by 
Rousseau  as  the  most  enchanting  spot  on  earth,  and  I  see  no 
reason  to  the  contrary.  The  old  cathedral  is  the  chief  Protes- 
tant church.  The  building  bears  date  1498.  Alas  !  the  gospel 
of  the  Reformers  who  occupied  it,  is  not  preached  there  in 
French,  but  in  English.  I  heard  one  of  the  most  blessed  gospel- 
sermons,  of  the  Simeon  sort,  from  an  Anglican  chaplain,  Mr. 
Cleves  ;  John  v.  42.  About  sixty  English  were  present.  It  was 
a  refreshment  to  my  weary  soul,  which  I  shall  remember  all  my 
days.  When  I  came  out,  and  looked  from  under  the  perfect 
shade  over  vineyards,  town,  lake,  and  nearer  hills,  to  the  silvery, 
heaven-like  Alps,  on  a  day  of  great  clearness,  with  temperature 
making  cloth  dress  indispensable,  I  trust  my  heart  experienced 
some  of  God's  sure  mercies,  and  I  was  reminded  that  his  cove- 
nant is  more  durable  than  the  Alps,  which  must  crumble  away. 
The  people  are  in  great  contrast  to  the  mountaineers  of  Savoy. 
They  are  a  ruddy,  industrious,  teeming,  happy  generation.  The 
illusory  view  of  a  tourist  is  that  they  know  no  care. 

On  Saturday  evening,  at  dusk,  the  streets  and  neighbouring 
roads  were  full  of  people,  coming  in  from  the  vines,  and  sitting 
at  their  doors.  A  most  wonderful  yocUer  sang  in  the  court,  in 
the  Alpine  manner.  It  is  as  indescribable  as  inimitable,  and 
does  not  sound  like  a  human  organ.  The  peasantry  drink  wine 
as  freely  as  we  drink  water,  but  intemperance  is  very  rare. 
Bread  and  wine  are  the  universal  meal.  I  am  surprised  to  see 
how  little  flesh  is  used,  even  in  twenty  courses,  at  table  d'hote. 


328  LETTERS    FROM   EUEOPE. 

Indeed  I  think  the  air  and  climate  lessens  one's  taste  for  it. 
There  is  no  end  to  the  confections.  Their  cakes  are  always  dry, 
crisp,  and  macaroony.  I  am  sure  I  have  tasted  200  kinds  in 
France  and  Switzerland.     "W^arm  bread  is  unknown. 

Lucerne,  July  25,  1851. 
From  Vevay  I  went  to  Berne,  a  stern  old  Protestant  town, 
more  noble  in  my  view  from  my  having  just  come  out  of  Frei- 
burg, the  chief  Catholic  canton.  The  Jesuits  are  in  full  blast 
there.  I  have  no  expectation  of  ever  seeing  such  farms,  such 
crops,  such  peasantry,  such  houses,  and  such  babies  as  I  saw  in 
Berne.  The  chalets  equalled  all  my  best  forethoughts,  and 
erased  the  ill  impressions  of  the  Savoy  Alps.  Millions  of  bee- 
hives in  these  vales  and  heights.  ]\Iorning  or  evening  the  honey 
is  never  absent. 

We  entered  Lucerne  the  24th.  The  country  people  of  Lucerne 
are  not  to  be  compared  with  those  of  Berne,  wdiom  I  continue  to 
think  the  finest  yeomanry  I  ever  saw.  We  took  a  little  steam- 
boat yesterday,  to  survey  the  lake  Lucerne,  which,  in  the  0]3inion 
of  Sir  James  Mackintosh  and  others,  is  the  noblest  lake  in  Switzer- 
land, i.  e.  in  all  the  world.  I  read  Schiller's  "  William  Tell  " 
among  the  very  scenes  it  describes.  The  spirit  of  liberty  waked 
up  in  me  very  strong  at  Riitli,  the  green  ledge,  where  in  1307 
the  three  Swiss  conspirators  met  to  free  their  country ;  at 
Fl Lichen,  by  Altorf,  where  Tell  shot  the  apple ;  at  the  chapel 
where  he  leaped  ashore  out  of  Gessler's  boat ;  and  in  view  of 
Kvissnacht,  near  which  he  slew  Gessler.  Five  hundred  years 
have  not  taken  away  the  interest  of  the  Swiss  in  these  mighty 
deeds.  At  least  three  men,  of  whom  two  were  quite  common, 
indicated  the  localities  to  me,  and  the  third  told  me  the  whole  in 
English,  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  The  music  of  the  Lucerne 
church-bells  is  beyond  any  thing  I  have  yet  heard.  Many  of 
the  people  speak  Italian,  but  most  a  horrible  German  patois. 
The  Jesuits  have  a  college  here,  and  go  about  like  princes. 

Zurich,  July  26,  1851. 
Here  I  am,  Deo  favente,  in  tlic  old  Protestant  city  of  Zuingle. 
We  came  from  Lucerne  in  about  7^  hours  across  the  Mt.  Albis. 
We  went  through  the  canton  of  Zug ;  all  Papists :  but  I  saw  no 
such  horrendous  life-size  imao-es  of  our  Lord  crucified  as  abound 
and  stare  at  you  in  Lucerne.  Crossing  this  little  canton,  w^e 
entered  the  sweet,  rich,  green,  Protestant  land  of  Zurich.  The 
road  went  round  and  round  the  mountain  (Albis)  in  successive 
platforms,  for  a  length  uncommon  even  in  Switzerland,  so  that 
this  enchanting  imysage  was  every  moment  coming  up  afresh, 


1851.  329 

all  lying  flat  and  long  and  wide  before  us,  so  as  to  remind  me 
of  what  they  tell  concerning  views  from  a  balloon.  I  begin  to 
feel  quite  German  since  I  slept  under  a  feather-bed,  and  paid  my 
bill  in  Gulden  and  Kreutzers.  Our  removes  were  nine  :  Soup  ; 
bouilli  and  carrots  ;  trout ;  tripe  with  oily  mashed  potatoes  ; 
cherry  fritters,  with  the  stems  sticking  out ;  volaille  with  lettuce ; 
strawberries  dressed  with  wine  and  cinnamon ;  cherries,  cakes, 
d:c. ;  a  bottle  of  white  wine  at  each  plate. 

On  Sunday  I  went  to  the  cathedral  where  Zuingle  preached. 
The  church  is  awkwardly  divided  by  a  rude  ill-painted  screen 
through  both  nave  and  aisles,  and  is  seated  with  deal  forms,  with 
backs°  marked  and  numbered  but  unpainted.     There  is  no  paint, 
except  some  daubing  at  the  pulpit  end.     I  saw  and  heard  no 
organ.     About  200  persons  seemed  little  where  2,000  might 
have  been.     I  saw  one  man  besides  myself  in  the  nave.     A  few 
old  men  sat  along  the  side  walls.     One  gentleman  Avas  near  the 
platform.     Two  men  were  on  it  at  the  preacher's  right ;  about 
six  singers  at  his  left ;    these  were  led  by  a  blind  young  man, 
who  read  the  hymn  from  a  large  book  with  raised  letters.     He 
is  an  admirable  singer.     They  sang  twice,  but  only  one  tune. 
The  peasant  women,  who  made  up  the  assembly,  sang  almost 
perfectly.     Every  one  had  her  black  and  gilt  book,  with  a  folded 
white  handkerchief.     The  tune  was  ancient  and  slow.     All  sang, 
and  all  stood  up  in  prayer.     The  preacher  was  in  gown  and 
bands.     The  sermon  was  on  the  fear  of  God,  and  seemed  to  be 
an  attempt   to   be  very  pathetic  upon  mere  moralities.     The 
women  almost  all  slumbered  and  slept.     I  saw  whole  rows  thus 
exercised.     The  service  was  one  hour  ;  viz. :    1.  Hymn,  (sitting.) 
2.  Prayer — read  by  the   preacher   standing.     3.    Sermon,   (he 
stopped  at  each  head,  turned  round  and  employed  a  blue  hand- 
kerchief.)    4.  A  prayer  read,  (Lord's  prayer  at  close  of  both.) 
5.  Hymn.     Minister  then  immersed  himself  in  a  hat,  and  people 
retired.     I  recognized  no  benediction.     On  retiring,  some  of  the 
poor  women  bought  fine  cherries  at  the  foot  of  the  steps.     A 
deader  service,  out  of  Quaker  meeting,  I  never  saw.     No  wonder 
they  have  forgotten  Zuingle's  name.     The  University  here  has 
about  forty  professors  and  more  than  300  regular  students  ;  but 
the  Cantonalsdmle,  like  a  [German]  Gymnasium,  has  400. 

Heidelberg,  July  31,  1851. 
I  left  Zurich  on  the  28th  for  Basel.  Some  of  the  villages  on 
the  road  were  the  worst  I  have  seen.  Dunghills  all  along  the 
streets.  They  are  just  in  wheat  harvest,  and  the  valley  of  the 
Rhine  is  one  sea  of  corn  and  sheaves ;  the  more  striking  from 
the  absence  of  fences  and  roads.     All  the  people  seem  to  be 


330  LETTERS   FEOM   ETJEOPE. 

out.  Old  men  sit  among  the  sheaves.  There  are  more  women 
than  men  at  the  work,  and  babies  lie  about  in  abundance.  The 
approach  to  the  Ehine  naturally  awakened  me.  At  first  sight 
I  compared  it  with  the  Passaic  at  Newark,  but  I  soon  thought  it 
more  like  the  Shenandoah.  The  flow  of  the  stream  is  majestic. 
We  entered  Basel  as  the  eclipse  of  the  sun  declined.  It  was  my 
first  view  of  mighty  walls  of  the  middle  ages,  though  I  have 
seen  many  walled  towns.  The  first  stork  I  saw  at  the  place 
where  we  dined. 

"We  left  Basel  in  omnibus,  and  took  rails  at  Heiltingen  for 
Freiburg.  Crossing  the  Ehine  takes  me  out  of  sweet  Switzer- 
land into  Germany — the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden  skirting  the 
east  bank  of  the  Rhine.  I  now  go  fully  into  German-speech. 
At  Berne  it  began,  but  it  has  been  mixed,  everywhere  the  two 
languages  and  always  English  at  the  inns.  The  headman  at 
Lucerne  spoke  English,  French,  Italian,  German,  and  Dutch. 
He  is  a  Hollander,  and  says  he  learned  them  by  grammars,  in 
order  to  be  a  waiter. 

Freiburg  is  a  Romish  town  with  a  small  University.  It 
borders  on  the  Black  Forest,  which,  in  truth,  is  a  mountain-range, 
covered  with  firs,  some  of  which  are  120  feet  high.  The  cathe- 
dral greatly  impressed  me.  The  sculj^tures  exceeded  my 
thoughts.  The  tower,  380  feet  high,  fill  of  stone,  looked  like 
a  delicate  and  graceful  nothing  against  the  mountains  or  the  sky. 
Living  water  flows  in  wide  streams  through  all  the  streets.  It 
is  a  healthy  but  wintry  place.  We  left  it  (on  the  30th  July)  by 
railway  to  Kehl ;  by  omnibus  to  Strasburg  Cathedral !  Leaving 
S.  in  the  afternoon,  we  passed  Rastadt  and  Carlsruhe,  and  entered 
Heidelberg  just  after  dark. 

Kenilworth  is  a  plaything  compared  with  the  mountain-castle 
of  the  old  Electors.  Old  ruins  and  new  erections  ;  walls  twenty 
feet  thick  in  places ;  twenty  rooms  at  least  with  shrubbery  full- 
grown  in  them  ;  vaults  and  dungeons ;  towers,  half  fallen,  where 
you  have  the  city  under  your  very  feet,  and  a  champaign  country 
all  gold  and  green,  now  falling  before  the  mowers  and  reapers. 
There  are  about  650  students  here.  They  swagger  through  the 
streets  with  little  caps  of  every  hue.  The  rowdyism  of  the  boys 
passes  belief.  An  apprentice  let  loose  is  a  feeble  comparison. 
The  number  of  professors  and  lecturers  is  seventy.  Many  of 
these  get  not  more  apiece  than  a  New  York  coachman.  In 
the  Medical  Faculty  some  zeal  is  apparent.  There  are  two 
courses  of  Medical  Jurisprudence ;  one  for  jurists,  and  one  for 
medical  men.  There  are  lectures  on  the  History  of  Medicine, 
on  diseases  of  the  aged,  and  on  many  subdivisions  of  anatomy 
and  therapeutics. 


1851.  831 

Cologne,  August  4,  1851. 

I  left  Heidelberg  on  the  1st.  Tnough  nominally  at  Frank 
fort,  I  did  not  really  see  any  thing  of  the  place.  I  saw  a  good' 
many  troops,  and  one  corps  in  white  uniform,  who  were  prob 
ably  Anstrians.  Biberich,  where  I  took  boat,  may  be  called  thr 
port  of  Wiesbaden.  When  I  got  to  Cologne  about  10  P.  M.. 
my  trunk  Avas  missing.  All  inquiries  proved  fruitless.^  A 
gentleman  condoled  with  me,  and  offered  to  lend  me  from  his 
wardrobe.  I  afterwards  found  it  was  Lord  Dudley  Ward. 
Visited  the  cathedral ;  more  than  a  hundred  men  are  working  in 
sheds  at  the  costly  carvings.  That  which  most  struck  me  in  the 
interior  is  its  awful  grandeur,  its  vast  extent.  The  Papists  grow 
zealous  in  proportion  as  the  Protestants  have  become  erroneous 
and  indifferent,  and  are  regaining  their  hold  on  the  young.  In 
the  cathedral  I  saw  rows  after  rows  of  girls  deeply  engaged  in 
devotions,  in  the  side  chapels.  I  dare  not  give  the  proofs  I  have 
of  lax  morals  in  the  towns ;  the  natural  consequence  of  forsaking 
God. 

The  streets  of  Cologne  are  narrow,  crooked,  dirty,  and  with- 
out sidewalks.  The  filth  of  German  inns  is  inexpressible ;  yet 
the  linen  and  beds  are  fine.  Bread  is  capital,  so  is  butter,  which 
I  have  never  seen  salted  in  Europe. 

Since  I  left  Paris,  I  have  seen  no  painting  that  moved  me  so 
much  as  one  at  the  Museum  here — "  the  Jews  at  the  willows  of 
Babylon,"  by  Bendeman,  of  Dresden.  Cologne  delights  me 
wdth  its  Roman  ruins  and  inscriptions,  its  labyrinth  of  old 
lanes,  toppling  houses,  indescribable  courts  and  markets,  and 
quaint  edifices.  Yet  I  long  to  see  our  own  fresh  and  progressive 
cities  ;  to  see  a  land  where  there  are  no  guards,  watch-towers, 
passports,  and  over-worked  women.  Poor  things  !  their  fur- 
rowed mahogany  faces,  their  gray  hair  streaming  from  whimsical 
head-dresses,  often  make  me  muse  sadly. 

I  was  in  the  great  cathedral  on  a  high  day.  The  vaulted  roofs 
resounded  with  an  orchestral  mass.  A  great  number  of  instru- 
ments, joined  with  a  grand  organ,  performed  one  of  the  most 
learned  masses.  But  by  far  the  most  impressive  part  was  purely 
vocal,  and  plain  chant,  all  in  one  part,  often  by  boys ;  the  per- 
formers being  visible  in  stalls  around  the  choir.  I  was  very 
near  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  who  is  also  a  great  prince. 
The  Priests'  seminary,  near  by,  has  400  young  priests.  I  was  at 
the  Jesuits'  church,  which  is  fine ;  also  at  St.  Peter's,  chiefly 
remarkable  for  an  altar-piece,  the  apostle's  crucifixion,  which 
Rubens  esteemed  his  best  work.     The  only  Protestant  church, 

^  The  trunk  was  not  recovered  until  August  8,  at  Rotterdam. 


332  LETTERS   FRO:Sl   EUEOPE. 

borrowed  from  the  Romanists,  is  for  the  soldiers  here  who 
happen  to  be  Protestants.  I  saw  yesterday  (the  Sabbath)  a 
wonderful  procession  around  St.  Martin's  church.  It  was  St. 
Martin's  day.  Purple  and  gold,  incense  and  tapers,  chanting 
and  mummery.  I  cannot  describe  the  agony  of  devotion  I  often 
see  in  German  Catholics,  esj)ecially  in  old  women  and  young 
girls,  with  their  rosaries,  &c.  In  my  humble  view  a  generation 
is  growing  up  most  craftily  trained  in  every  popish  delusion. 
The  German  popery  is  altogether  a  different  thing  from  that 
of  France  and  Italy.  The  very  advertisements  on  church-doors 
breathe  a  spirit  of  profound  tenderness.  God  grant  that  some 
of  the  poor  priest-ridden  souls  may  find  the  true  cross ! 

I  attended  the  Episcopal  service  at  the  British  Consulate. 
There  were  sixty  present,  apj)arently  people  of  some  mark.  It 
was  Puseyitish.  The  priest  backed  the  people,  had  an  Oxford 
cap,  moved  here  and  there,  and  had  much  mumming  over  the 
elements  of  the  offertory.     Twenty-one  communed. 

Amsterdam,  August  5,  1851. 
From  Coloo^ne  in  steamer  Rubens  for  Arnhem  in  Holland 
— the  charmingest  town  for  elegant  neatness.  We  really  know 
nothing  of  interior  Holland  in  America.  The  East  India  trade 
enriches  hundreds  of  men,  who  live  at  home,  in  a  quiet  grandeur, 
like  Quaker  princes.  The  fronts  of  some  houses  are  just  like 
white  porcelain.  The  landscape  gardening  is  English.  The 
windows  are  the  most  chastely  elegant ;  adorned  with  little 
screens  of  Berlin-work,  embroidery,  or  costly  Japan.  Apropos, 
the  Japan  trade  is  all  with  the  Dutch.  Of  Java  tin,  a  sale  was 
yesterday  made,  (two  million  guilders,)  all  to  a  fellow-traveller 
and  acquaintance  of  mine.  The  Dutch  complexion  is  even  better 
than  the  English ;  and  the  people  are  quiet  and  happy.  The  sea- 
ports are  indeed  like  others,  and  Amsterdam  is  filthy  ;  its  canals 
smell  like  bilge  water ;  but  Utrecht  is  like  an  island  in  a  sea  of 
tranquil  academic  verdure.  I  spent  some  delightful  hours  (in 
U.)  traversing  the  China-like  streets,  the  water-side-walks,  and 
the  cool  still  University  and  Library.  Mr.  Ader,  the  librarian, 
Avas  all  attention  ;  spoke  English,  German,  Erench,  Dutch,  and 
Latin.  All  the  theological  lectures  in  Holland  are  in  Latin ;  the 
medical  in  Dutch.  Utrecht  is  the  seat  of  so-called  orthodoxy. 
Leyden  and  Groningen  are  liberal.  There  are  about  5,000  Jan- 
senists  in  Utrecht.  Of  the  200,000  population  of  Amsterdam 
30,000  are  Jews.  There  are  600  windmills.  The  Philadelphia 
"  State  House  "  is  plainly  a  reminiscence  of  the  palace.  The 
very  name  is  the  same.  I  feasted  my  eyes  at  the  ]\Iuseum  with 
paintings  of  the  Dutch  school,  which  gave  me  the  same  pleasure 


1851.  333 

in  comparison  with  Giiido  and  Eafaelle,  that  Boz  does  in  com- 
parison with  Milton.  The  conntry  we  passed  is  a  perfect  flat. 
Think  of  the  meadows  near  Newark,  [New  Jersey  ;]  make  these 
perfect  green  or  yellow  yelvet ;  remove  all  fences ;  intersect 
with  narrow  and  broad  canals  full  to  the  green  edge ;  cover  them 
with  myriads  of  cattle,  always  black  and  white ;  dot  them  with 
low  white  houses  ;  extend  this  plain  till  the  windmills  all  along 
the  horizon  look  like  chessmen  ;  add  flowers,  clean  peasants,  and 
.storks,  and  you  have  Holland.  There  is  no  country  but  America 
so  belied  as  this.  It  is  the  only  country  I  have  thought  I  could 
live  in.  Arnhem,  for  example,  is  a  little  city  of  trim,  lovely 
houses,  pure  streets,  green  parks,  ramparts  turned  into  prome- 
nades, and  an  appearance  of  wealth  among  the  retired  East  India 
merchants  which  was  new  to  me.  But  Utrecht  gratified  me  yet 
more.  Its  hotel  meets  every  demand  of  the  most  fastidious 
quietist.  Though  very  large,  it  is  so  quiet  that  I  never  saw  or 
heard  another  guest  in  it.  The  women  going  by  were  all 
dressed  like  a  play,  in  clean  caps,  longish  short-gowns,  and  black 
petticoats.     All  looked  like  toy  milk-maids. 

In  Holland  people  smoke  at  the  dinner  table,  smoke  while 
eating  melons,  smoke  while  setting  the  table.  In  Ley  den  noth- 
ing moved  me  more  than  the  remembrance  of  Boerhaave.  I 
came  away  with  reluctance  from  his  speaking  portrait.  It  has 
some  traits  of  our  Franklin,  but  more  heart  and  more  love.  I 
stood  by  his  simple  memorial  in  St.  Peter's. 


"  SALL'TIFEEO 

BOERHAYII 

GEXIO 
SACRUM." 


On  a  basrelief  medallion  likewise  the  legend  Sigillum  veri  sim- 
plex. We  were  shown  about  the  University  by  Prof.  Dozy,  to 
whom  Dr.  Robinson  had  letters.  They  have  only  one  term  and 
the  holidays  are  now.  The  library  has  1,631  oriental  MSS., 
exclusive  of  Hebrew.  Dozy  has  published  one  volume  of  a 
catalogue  of  these  MSS.  At  the  University  I  ascended  the  desk 
where  Witsius  often  held  his  acts.  But  the  Senate  Hall  is  a 
place  which,  Niebuhr  says,  has  no  equal  for  academic  memories. 
It  contains  108  portraits  of  Ley  den  professors. 

We  visited  Siebold's  Japan  Collection,  the  only  complete 
one  in  Europe.  He  was  eight  years  in  Japan,  and  one  of  these 
in  prison.  The  "  Museum  van  Oudheden  "  carried  me  back  to 
Egypt,  Carthage,  and  Etruria.  Mummies  of  babies,  who  died 
3,000  years  ago.  The  Museum  of  Natural  History  has  a  world- 
wide feme.  In  ornithology  and  comparative  anatomy,  it  beats 
Paris.     Whole  droves  of  skeleton  genera,  from  an  elephant  to 


334  LETTEKS   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

a  mouse.  The  rector  of  the  Leyden  University  is  Dr.  Nicholas 
Christian  Kist.  The  Theological  Professors  are  Kist,  Van  Hen 
gel,  Van  Oordt,  and  Scholten.  Add,  from  the  Philosophical 
Faculty,  Rutgers,  who  reads  on  Exegesis,  Antiquities,  and  San 
scrit ;  Juynball,  on  Hebrew  and  Arabic,  and  Stuffken  on  Logic. 
According  to  a  hasty  enumeration  the  Professors  amount  to 
thirty-three.  Both  at  Utrecht  and  Leyden,  the  libraries  are  in 
buildings  devoid  of  all  costly  display.  At  Leyden  the  accommo- 
dation for  books  is  altogether  insufficient.  Leyden  is  the  only 
place  where  we  have  seen  bills  advertising  students'  rooms,  in 
Latin ;  several  windows  held  out  cuhicula  locanda.  But  the  med- 
ical lectures  are  already  in  Dutch,  and  the  theologians  will  soon 
be  forced  to  follow  the  example  of  Germany.  Customs,  how- 
ever, take  deep  root  in  Holland,  and  one  sees  many  usages  which 
are  known  in  Bergen  and  Somerset  [New  Jersey].  In  our  inn  at 
Utrecht — the  neatest  and  most  home-like  I  ever  entered — five 
footstoves  were  in  our  breakfast  room  ;  and  there  were  at  least 
twenty  in  a  pile  beside  the  door  of  the  great  lecture-room.  In  one 
of  Wouverman's  celebrated  paintings  at  the  Hague,  we  observed 
the  same  implement,  of  the  same  fashion,  even  to  the  rhomboidal 
cup  for  the  charcoal,  which  always  belongs  to  the  Vuur  Stoof. 
The  same  persistency  might  be  exemplified  in  window-mirrors, 
storks,  health-bulletins,  and  the  clerical-looking  undertaker,  who 
invites  to  funerals  in  a  dress  as  dignified  as  a  bishop's.  Take  it 
altogether,  Holland,  in  its  rural  portions,  gave  me  such  unexpected 
pleasure,  that  my  chief  regret  is  that  I  had  only  a  passing  glance. 
Of  the  moral  and  religious  state  of  Holland,  I  must  refer  you 
to  more  authoritative  statements,  which  may  be  expected  at  the 
Evangelical  Alliance  next  week,  in  London.  A  hurrying  visit, 
like  mine,  to  inns  and  galleries,  does  not  give  much  insight  be- 
yond the  surface  ;  every  word  I  write  on  this  head  must  be  sub- 
ject to  correction.  We  were  of  one  mind  in  thinking  that  evan- 
gelical religion  had  not  sunk  in  Holland  so  much  as  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland.  A  pious  and  intelligent  officer,  high  in  the 
service,  declared  to  me  his  belief  that  the  persecution  of  the 
Separatists  was  at  an  end.  They  abound  in  the  province  of 
Groningen,  where  also  lax  divinity  is  most  rife.  The  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  is  too  much  supplanted  by  abridgments,  but  is 
still  regularly  preached  on.  Many  good  people  in  the  National 
Church  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  pious  Separatists.  ]^Iy 
informant  himself  does  so  ;  and  further  expressed  his  belief  that 
thousands  of  the  common  people  hold  fast  to  the  divinity  and 
atonement  of  our  Lord.  At  the  same  time  great  coldness  and 
formality  are  prevalent,  as  in  Scotland  under  Moderatism.  But 
the  churches  are  full,  and  the  people  have  that  Protestant  and 


1851.  335 

Presbyterian  look,  which  is  in  contrast  with  what  one  sees  on  the 
upper  Rhine.  The  works  of  the  great  poet  and  historian  Bilcler- 
dijk  are  read  with  affection.  His  admirer  and  friend  Dacosta  is 
well  known  as  an  evangelical  believer.  Yet  the  book-shops  reveal 
a  portentous  preference  for  German,  and  especially  for  French 
literature,  and  the  days  of  vernacular  Dutch  theology  seem  to  be 
over.  Many  versions  of  English  practical  works  are  for  sale ; 
and  at  the  Hague,  in  an  open  market,  we  found  a  tract-man  vending 
Christian  broad  sheets  and  little  books,  of  which  I  will  show^  you 
a  sample.  Hopes  are  entertained  that  measures  will  soon  be 
taken  to  restore  in  part  the  freer  action  of  the  Classical  and 
Synodal  Courts. 

The  Hague,  Atigust  6,  1851. 
I  do  wish  I  could  for  one  instant  show  you  a  Dutch  town. 
You  will  never  believe  me  if  I  describe  it.  Broeck,  as  every- 
body knows,  is  the  cleanest  place  on  earth  ;  we  failed  to  reach 
it,  but  know  that  there  is  neither  horse  nor  cart  road,  that  every 
pipe  must  have  a  stopper,  that  the  pavements  are  in  figures  like 
mosaic,  and  the  gutters  running  with  pure  water.  English 
comfort  is  not  so  cosy,  nor  so  universal.  The  Dutch  of  this  city 
are  the  best-dressed  people  I  have  seen  ;  fashion  without  finery, 
and  plainness  without  dirt.  Positively,  whole  rows  of  houses 
look  more  like  china-ware  than  bricks  and  mortar.  The  Hyde 
Park  of  Haag  is  called  the  Bosch.  It  is  a  forest,  two  miles 
long,  w^ith  a  square  green  parade  in  the  middle.  Eor  imitation 
of  nature  it  surpasses  the  English  parks.  Dr.  Robinson  says  it 
beats  the  Thiergarten  of  Berlin,  and  that  of  Munich.  What 
music  I  have  heard  there  just  now  at  sunset !  All  the  better 
sort  of  people  seemed  to  be  walking  there,  but  orderly  and  com- 
posed. Holland  is  not  seen  to  advantage  by  Americans  who 
hasten  up  the  Rhine.  All  my  days  shall  I  remember  Arnhem, 
with  Vevay,  Eton,  and  Heidelberg.  True,  I  felt  the  contrast 
more  after  three  days  in  Cologne,  of  which  Coleridge  says — 

"  Ye  nymphs  who  reign  o'er  sewers  and  sinks, 
The  river  Rhine,  it  is  well  known, 
Doth  wash  your  city  of  Cologne  ; 
But  tell  me,  nymphs,  what  power  divine 
Shall  henceforth  cleanse  the  river  Rhine  ?  " 

The  Hague,  as  a  royal  residence,  adds  a  subdued  splendour  to 
the  Dutch  neatness.  I  do  not  therefore  take  it  as  a  sample  of  Hol- 
land. The  streets  are  clean.  The  canals  are  not  so  intersecting 
as  at  Amsterdam,  AS'hich  is  cut  into  95  islands.  The  houses  are 
peculiar,  but  neat.  Much  marble  is  used  for  the  whole  pave- 
ments of  halls,  and  for  the  trottoirs  in  a  few  places.     The  bricks 


336  LETTERS   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

are  so  thin,  and  the  ^Yhite  pointing  so  exact,  and  the  paint  of  the 
wood-work  so  redoubled  and  polished,  and  the  plate  glass  so 
large,  that  the  fronts  have  an  indescribable  porcelain  look.  It 
is  like  the  quietest  parts  of  Third  street  [Philadelphia]  thirty 
years  ago,  with  a  great  addition  to  finish. 

The  Hollanders  drink  tea,  which  is  very  fine,  and  comes  from 
Java.  The  quantity  of  East  India  furniture,  japan-ware,  &:c.,  in 
Holland  is  very  great.  The  little  frames,  which  lift  up  with  the 
sash,  are  very  pretty.  They  conceal  the  people  spying  out  of  the 
spions,  or  mirrors.  I  used  one  of  these  mirrors  at  Ley  den,  and 
could  sit  and  see  a  great  way  up  the  street.  They  have  an 
admirable  linen  curtain,  which  a  simple  cord  pulls  up,  in  fan- 
folds  ;  very  cheap  and  pretty.  Every  parlour-window  looks 
beautiful  from  outside. 

LoNDOX,  AugiiM  19,  1851. 

I  arrived  here  in  the  night  of  the  9th,  in  twenty-two  hours 
from  Rotterdam.  The  English  being  poor  sailors  avoid  this  by 
preferring  Ostend,  or  even  skirting  along  to  Calais.  I  would  not 
have  missed  the  voyage  for  much.  As  soon  as  I  got  to  the 
noble  Boompje  of  Rotterdam,  and  saw  the  Indiamen,  and  flags 
of  all  nations,  and  the  "  General  \Yashington  of  Alexandria," 
better-looking  than  them  all,  I  began  to  take  courage.  A  sniff 
of  sea-air  revived  me  after  the  unutterable  stench  of  the  canals, 
and  every  breath  of  the  German  sea  did  me  good.  We  had 
more  than  100  passengers,  besides  108  calves.  N.  B,  The  veal 
of  Holland  is  peculiar  and  a  rarity.  They  serve  it  as  the  bonne- 
hoiiclie  ;  it  is  as  white  and  delicate  as  chicken.  I  could  not  say 
with  Voltaire,  "  Adieu  canards,  canaux,  canaille ! "  I  shall  always 
love  Holland  ;  the  more  for  that  it  took  me  unawares.  Amster- 
dam and  Rotterdam  are  all  over  like  Chatham  St.  [New  York] 
and  South  street  [Philadelphia]  combined.  Amsterdam  is  alive 
with  Jews,  who  seem  the  mobile  part  of  the  population.  Eras- 
mus's statue  at  Rotterdam  is  in  the  very  midst  of  a  throng,  not 
one  whit  above  the  Market  street  [Philadelphia]  fishmarket, 
and  we  could  scarce  approach  it  for  the  folks  taking  down  their 
movable  stalls.  Boats  lie  almost  touching  the  really  grand  old 
image.  The  immense  cathedral,  frowning  over  the  whole,  is 
begirt  with  dark,  musty  shops,  such  as  America  has  none  of. 
The  Boompje,  or  great  maritime  street,  is  a  wide  quay  on  the 
Maes,  (the  Rhme  has  here  lost  its  name,)  and  is  lined  with  such 
trees  as  are  in  the  Philadelphia  State  House  yard.  But  the 
heaviest  shipping  penetrates  by  canals  into  the  very  heart  and 
bowels  of  the  city,  and  is  unloaded  at  the  doors  of  stores. 

"What  most  pleased  me  in  Holland,  was  to  see  how  different 


1851.  337 

the  lot  of  woman  is  from  that  of  the  sex  in  France  and  Germany. 
Here  are  no  women  carrying  heavy  loads,  or  doing  men's  work. 
Indeed,  the  Hollanders  have  a  hundred  devices  to  save  the  very 
men.  Horses  and  carts  abound  in  their  fields.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  dog-carts  ;  and  wind  and  water  are  levied  on  for  every 
kind  of  work.  In  Holland  the  chief  reading,  if  I  may  judge  by 
the  bookstores,  is  first  of  French,  then  of  German,  then  of 
English.  This  is  unfavourable.  Col.  S.  says  the  Separatists  are 
no  longer  persecuted;  that  the  people  would  not  bear  it.  He 
thinks  most  of  the  poor  country  people  retain  sound  doctrine. 
The  rationalists  are  city-men  and  professors,  and  even  these  do 
not  openly  impugn  the  doctrines  of  grace.  The  churches  are 
largely  attended ;  wdiich  differs  from  Germany. 

Here,  in  the  thick  of  old  London,  a  stone's  throw  from 
Milk  street,  in  Cripple-gate  Within,  it  is  as  quiet  as  a  New 
England  village.  In  the  evening  after  my  arrival,  coming  by  the 
little  old  church  of  St.  Mary's  in  the  street  (Aldermanbury)  of 
our  first  lodgings,  I  saw  lights  and  could  even  discern  the  preacher, 
whose  motions  indicated  earnestness.  I  slipped  in  near  the  fur- 
ther door.  The  preacher,  a  middle-aged  man,  was  very  warmly 
engaged  on  Hebrews  i. :  "  Thy  throne,  O  God,"  &c.  He  had 
not  uttered  many  sentences,  before  I  found  him  to  be  evangelical. 
His  third  point  was  on  the  perpetuity,  his  fourth  on  the  glory 
of  Christ's  Divine  kingdom.  He  read  part,  but  added  much  ex 
tempore,  reading  his  numerous  and  fervent  citations  from  a  little 
Bible  lying  beside  his  MS.  The  application  was  full  of  point  and 
unction.  Coming  just  from  the  depths  of  popery  and  neology, 
and  from  the  tossings  of  the  German  sea,  I  enjoyed  as  much  as 
Jonathan  when  he  found  the  honey-comb,  and  my  eyes  were 
lightened. 

On  the  13th  we  got  into  very  good  snug  quarters  at  34  Great 
Ormond  street,  Queen's  square,  Lamb's  Conduit  street.  I  went 
to  survey  Billingsgate.  It  is  well,  for  they  are  putting  up  a  lofty 
pile  to  supersede  the  old  classical  place.  The  fish-people  were 
more  decent  than  I  expected.  Crossing  several  vessels,  I  boarded 
one  of  the  oyster-sloops,  and  got  acquainted  with  the  skipper. 
He  ordered  up  some  oysters  for  me  to  taste,  such  as  sell  for 
thirty-two  shillings  a  bushel.  They  have  a  high  flavour,  and  are 
small,  round,  flat,  and  not  clustered.  Larger  ones,  for  nine 
shillings,  are  coarse  and  repulsive. 

As  I  walked  up  Cheapside  I  met  a  school  of  little  girls, 
belonging  to  some  old  foundation ;  brown  petticoats,  white  capes, 
caps  and  pinafores  ;  little  old  women  of  a  former  age.  One  can 
scarcely  walk  about  in  London,  without  seeing  some  token  of  the 
numerous  charities  of  a  better  day.  The  supply  of  churches  in 
VOL.  II. — 15 


338  LETTEES   FKOM   EUROPE. 

the  "  City  "  unquestionably  surpasses  that  of  any  to^yn  on  earth. 
You  sometimes  pass  a  dozen  in  a  five  minutes'  walk,  almost 
every  one  bearing  a  name  of  history.  To-day  I  came  all  of  a 
sudden  on  St.  Swithin's  lane  and  church,  and  looked  about  for 
London  Stone.  I  came  near  missing  it,  for  an  idle  fellow,  lean- 
ing against  the  wall  of  the  church,  entirely  covered  it.  I  feel  a 
strange  interest  in  the  very  old  part  east  of  the  Monument,  i.  e. 
the  part  untouched  by  the  fire  of  1666.  Some  of  the  houses 
look  as  if  Wiclif  and  Chaucer  might  have  lived  in  them.  I 
went  to  St.  Paul's,  and  heard  some  of  the  cathedral  singing. 
Then  I  perambulated  the  great  precincts.  Two  statues  held  me 
long,  and  I  went  back  to  them — Dr.  Johnson  and  John  Howard ; 
and  both  are  by  John  Bacon,  the  pious  sculptor.  Johnson's  is  a 
noble  work  of  art,  though  the  idea  is  ancient,  being  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  Hercules.  As  to  the  rest,  I  grew  weary  of 
attempts  to  ring  the  changes  on  Victory  supporting  a  dying  hero. 
Emblematic  and  allegoric  sculpture  has  done  me  no  good. 

The  corner  house  opposite  our  lodgings  is  a  gin-palace,  brilliant 
as  day.  The  next,  a  vintner's.  The  next,  opposite  to  us,  is  a 
sweet  dairy  shop.  Most  of  the  other  houses  in  this  Sansom-like 
[Philadelphia]  street,  are  private.  I  have  scarcely  been  able  to 
write  for  the  delicious  street  music.  No  music  has  given  me 
such  soothing  pleasure,  as  what  I  have  heard  by  chance.  The 
gin-palace  has  a  stream  from  dusk  onward — boys,  women  with 
infants,  smart  young  women,  errand  people.  I  see  sad  signs  of 
drink  in  London,  on  a  closer  inspection.  No  drunkards  abroad 
— the  police  see  to  that — but  men  and  women  muddled,  and  in 
that  sleepy  state  which  daily  imbibing  secures. 

There  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  rancorous  envy  of  America 
very  general  in  a  certain  English  class,  and  that  a  very  large  one. 
They  lose  no  chance  of  laughing  at  the  American  part  of  the 
Exhibition,  and  ringing  changes  on  Mexico,  Slavery,  &c.  This 
is  mingled  with  a  certain  dread  and  respect,  which  is  flattering 
to  us,  but  only  implied.  They  think  our  cleverness  amazing. 
Mr.  Bull  is  somewhat  slow  to  take  an  idea.  Certain  things  in  the 
American  Exhibition  will  run  all  over  England  before  they  have 
done  funning  at  us.  For  example,  ^McCormick's  threshing- 
machine  will  cut  down  hundreds  of  English  harvests.  A  ruling- 
machine  sets  the  stationers  aghast.  In  the  care  of  the  soil  and 
the  housing  of  crops,  and  the  saving  of  land  and  produce,  we 
are  very  far  behind  them,  but  as  far  before  them  in  tools  and 
quick  work.  The  American  cradle  is  itself  a  century  in  advance 
of  the  old  corn-growing  countries.  I  travelled  hundreds  of  miles 
through  actual  harvests.  The  sickle  was  universal,  (so  here  also,) 
and  the  work  slow,  though  neat.    Ploughs  and  harrows  were  going 


1851.  339 

for  the  next  crop,  while  the  wheat  was  in  the  shock  or  wagon ;  but 
nine-tenths  of  the  ploughs  I  saw  on  the  continent  were  shallow 
things,  drawn  by  oxen  or  cows,  and  with  a  wheel.  In  Holland, 
thinors  are  more  as  in  Somerset  and  Bergen,  [New  Jersey.] 

The  Christian  Evangelical  Alliance  meets  on  the  20th,  and 
lasts  twelve  days.  I  do  not  expect  to  go,  after  their  acts  con- 
cernino;  American  slave-holders.  I  declared  to  Dr.  Hamilton 
that  whatever  my  private  opinions  were  on  slavery,  I  would  sit 
in  no  body  where  my  Southern  brethren  were  excluded,  and  that 
I  would  not  submit  to  any  inquisition  by  English  Dissenters. 

London,  August  22,  1851. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  an  idea  of  the  way  the  street-people 
talk.  It  is  not  this  or  that  word,  but  all  the  words ;  and 
hardly  a  name  fails  of  some  change.  "  Go  by  the  Eondlin'  sir, 
ye'll  see  no  turnin'  to  put  ye  out,  till  ye  git  to  Lamb's  Cundick  " 
— "  theng'  ye  " — "  hit's  a  good  'apenny  " — "ye'll  bean  Ameri- 
can."    Mr.  ,  when   I   ask  after  his  family,  always  says : 

"  Nicely  !     I  assure  you." 

I  am  now  familiar  with  the  sight  of  liveries,  uniforms,  and 
odd  costumes.  Postmen,  servants,  soldiers,  proctors,  bishops, 
some  clergymen,  coachmen,  beadles,  charity-scholars,  wagoners, 
appear  in  a  dress  peculiar  to  each.  The  low  population  is  very 
vile. 

The  opening  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  on  the  20th  was  the 
most  elevated  season  of  devotion  I  ever  attended.  I  stayed  from 
ten  till  two.  It  was  a  great  prayer-meeting  at  Freemason's 
Hall.  I  had  some  delightful  chat  with  Noel.  Dr.  R.  Buchanan, 
of  Glasgow,  read  an  address  of  an  hour,  full  of  Presbyterian 
good  sense.  The  Rev.  Ed.  Bickersteth  (the  son)  made  an  address 
so  full  of  modesty,  humility,  and  love,  that  every  one  felt  like 
embracing  him.  He  is  pale,  small,  and  plain,  but  so  simple, 
John-like,  scholarly,  and  winning,  that  I  rejoiced  that  the  church 
of  England  had  such  men.  When  he  alluded  to  his  father,  all 
the  house  was  in  tears.  In  this  the  English  assemblies  are  just 
like  the  Virginians.  There  w^ere  three  hymns  and  three  prayers. 
The  first  hymn  was, 

"  Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs." 

Another  was  Psalm  133,  old  version.  The  whole  look  of  the 
assembly  is  English.  So  many  stout,  ruddy  men ;  more  [than 
English]  uncouth,  peculiar  faces  ;  more  ugliness,  greater  strength, 
health,  and  play  of  countenance.  Occasionally  I  w^ould  see  a 
swarthy,  sour-looking  one,  like  me ;  he  was  always  a  Erench- 
man.     Sir  Culling  E.  Eardley,  Bart.,  was  made  President.     He 


340  LETTERS   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

stepped  up  gaily;  a  fresh,  smiling  little  man;  youngish;  green 
frock,  yellow  waistcoat,  white  trousers,  checked  neck-cloth,  brown 
gloves,  and  umbrella  under  arm  while  he  spoke.  The  meeting 
was  more  familiar  than  with  us.  The  speeches  were  numerous, 
and  generally  short ;  kindly,  but  often  poor  and  sometimes  very 
awkward.  The  sing-song  tone  of  some  was  comical  enough. 
The  more  educated  and  gentleman-like  spoke  most  like  Ameri- 
cans. A  churchman,  who  offered  an  extempore  prayer  with  open 
eyes,  is  the  only  Englishman  whom  I  have  heard  say  hyind  and 
gy  ide.  Sir  Culling  says  "  urgin',  givin',  utterin',  also  illiistret, 
vindikeL  The  meeting,  which  was  very  long,  was  one  of  anima- 
tion, devotion,  and  many  tears.  There  was  much  clapping  of 
Bickersteth,  and  some  ''  hear  !  hear  !  "  Next  day  (21st)  I  heard 
Mr.  Noel's  address  at  the  Alliance.  His  manner  is  very  easy, 
quiet,  and  perfectly  colloquial.  But  he  was  never  animated,  and 
seldom  made  a  gesture. 

My  ticket  at  the  Tower  showed  that  I  was  the  4,002d  visiter 
yesterday.  At  the  Alliance  to-day  I  entered  the  house  when 
they  were  discussing  a  paper  of  Dr.  Baird's,  which  I  have  not 
seen,  but  which  is  said  to  have  been  sound  and  patriotic.  My 
name  was  mentioned  by  the  President,  Sir  Culling  E.  Eardley, 
and  I  was  suddenly  asked  whether  I  would  consent  to  meet  a 
Committee  on  the  subject.  Much  surprised,  I  nevertheless  replied 
as  follows : 

"'I  have  been  present.  Sir  Culling,  only  as  a  respectful  and 
affectionate  visiter,  and  am  under  obligations  to  leave  town  to- 


morrow.' 


"  Sir  Cidling  E.  Eardley.  '  At  what  hour  1 ' 
"  '  That  question,  let  me  answer,  seems  to  imply  that  there  is 
some  hour  in  which  I  would  engage  in  such  a  discussion.  We, 
Sir  Culling,  who  have  preached  to  the  slave,  and  stood  by  the 
slave  in  his  dying  moments,  know  too  well  the  agitations  which 
a  question  so  complicated  with  other  mterests  can  produce.  I 
have  joined  in  the  prayers,  and  at  a  remote  part  of  the  circle,  in 
the  praises  of  this  festival  of  Christian  love ;  and  for  one  I  am 
not  willing  to  introduce  an  element  into  these  conversations, 
which,  happily,  has  been  thus  far  absent ;  and  not  willing  to 
engage  in  any  gladiatorial  exhibition  on  the  subject  of  Ameri- 
can slavery.' " 

The  spirit  of  certain  Independent  and  Baptist  members  of 
the  Alliance  is  quite  offensive.  I  would  not  give  place  to  such, 
by  subjection;  no,  not  for  an  hour.  Some  of  the  Church  of 
England  men  and  the  best  heads  of  the  Free  Church,  are  willing 
to  hear  the  facts  and  to  discuss  the  matter  candidly  and  frater- 
nally. 


1851.  341 

Lime-street,  famous  in  theology/  is  a  narrow,  crooked  alley. 
The  number  and  closeness  of  the  old  churches  is  surprising. 
The  day  was  when  great  regard  was  had  to  the  spiritual  wants 
of  London.  If  the  Non-conformist  Reformation  had  not  been 
quenched  by  war  and  by  Cromwell,  this  home-missionary  zeal 
would  have  made  London  the  glory  of  England,  and  England  of 
the  world.  As  it  is,  the  star  has  gone  westward.  It  is  in  Amer- 
ica that  the  genuine  principle  of  English  Protestantism  has 
expanded  itself  The  spirit  of  slumber  has  fallen  on  the  titular 
Church  of  England,  which  has  neglected  God's  poor.  Little  is 
to  be  hoped  from  the  fiery  fanaticism  of  political  dissenters,  who 
are  constantly  fevering  themselves  with  some  new  excitement. 
God  grant  that  American  Christianity  may  go  forward,  with  that 
life  which  I  know  so  much  better  how  to  prize,  after  seeing  the 
symptoms  of  moribund  society  here ! 

Street-shows  and  street-wonders  would  take  up  a  book.  This 
morning  we  had — 1,  a  venerable  gray -haired  man,  without  hat, 
led  by  a  dog,  cantillating  his  woes ;  2,  a  trio,  Ilindoo  man  and 
two  children,  one  beating  a  drum-keg  with  his  hands,  and  singing 
his  ills  ;  3,  a  show  of  unknown  contents,  like  a  Swiss  char-a-banc. 
Accompanied  Dr.  Robinson  to  the  British  Museum,  the  great 
object  of  my  curiosity.  We  made  at  once  for  the  antiquity 
gallery.  Here  are  Layard's  things.  Most  are  figured  in  his 
books  :  the  perfectly  Caucasian  and  fine  profile  of  the  chief 
figures.  The  Egyptian  faces  show  the  Hindoo  eye,  unmistak- 
ably. Elgin  Saloon  !  Models  of  the  Parthenon  as  perfect,  and 
as  in  ruins  ;  representing  even  the  friezes,  metopes,  and  internal 
statue  of  Minerva.  This  is  indeed  the  consummation  of  sculp- 
ture-art. Tangled,  rumpled  drapery,  from  the  age  of  Pericles. 
My  mind  is  made  up  in  an  instant.  I  am  glad  they  are  here. 
Here  they  are  safe,  and  only  here  can  they  be  examined  nearly. 
Wonders  on  wonders  in  the  Egyptian  saloon,  taking  one  back  to 
the  times  of  Moses. 

On  the  ITth,  I  heard  Dr.  Hamilton  on  Col.  iii.  16.  Service 
1  hour  45  minutes.  Prayers  long,  before  and  after.  Order 
thus  :  1.  Singing  part  of  Ps.  cxlvii.  2.  Prayer.  3.  Reading 
Col  iii.,  ending  with  "  The  Lord  bless  his  word."  4.  Singing  of 
Psalm  cxlvii.  continued.  5.  The  Lord's  Prayer.  6.  Sermon. 
7.  Singing  of  remainder  of  Psalm  cxlvii.  8.  Prayer.  9.  No- 
tices. 10.  Blessing.  The  sermon  was  about  an  hour ;  was 
exuberant  in  similitude,  and  full  of  pathos.  Altogether  different 
from  the  one  in  June.  Just  like  his  "  Mount  of  Olives."  Man 
ner  warm  ;    sermon  read,  but  with  interpolations.     Gown  and 

'  "  The  Lime  Street  Lectures,"  by  Non-conformist  divines,  ITSO-'SI. 


342  LETTERS   FROM   EUROPE. 

"bands.  Bible  carried  before  him  into  pulpit.  One  of  the  deacons 
acted  as  precentor.  All  sang,  but  in  bad  time,  and  amazingly 
slow.  I  sat  in  a  high  pew,  back,  called  the  "  Elders'  pew."  In 
it  was  Dr.  Brown,  Greek  Professor  at  Aberdeen,  former  Mode- 
rator of  the  Free  Assembly.  The  house  was  built  for  Irving. 
Some  painted  glass,  on  which  the  Scotch  thistle  and  the  burning 
bush.  Seats  in  the  aisles,  and  rush  of  people  after  the  first 
prayer.  Next  day  had  good  chat  for  an  hour  with  Dr.  Hamilton 
at  his  house,  and  thence  with  him  to  the  British  Museum. 

This  morning  I  went  to  Westminster  Abbey  for  a  leisurely 
survey.  My  more  mature  thoughts  differ  from  what  I  expected. 
In  no  view  that  I  can  get  of  it  does  the  outside  of  Westminster 
present  itself  as  one  idea,  like  Freiburg,  Strasburg,  or  Cologne. 
As  works  of  art  few  of  the  statues  in  the  wilderness  of  tombs, 
redeem  the  English  school  from  the  common  censure.  Chan- 
trey's,  even,  are  not  all  I  hoped  for.  The  best  in  my  humble 
judgment  is  a  bas-relief  by  Elaxman,  representing  a  sister  pros- 
trate in  all  the  effusion  of  hopeless  woe  upon  a  brother's  tomb — 
that  of  George  Lindsay  Johnstone  in  the  north  aisle. 

Berwick  upon  Tweed,  August  26,  1851. 

Before  leaving  Cambridge  yesterday,  I  found  the  rooms  of 
Martyn  and  Kirke  White  at  St.  John's.  The  chambers  of  Milton, 
at  Christ's,  are  no  longer  known.  We  were  warmly  invited  to 
dine  with  the  Fellows  of  Trinity,  but  we  had  already  dined  in 
King's  by  invitation  of  the  new  Vice  Provost,  Mr.  Heath. 
There  are  about  sixty  Fellows  at  Trinity  College ;  about  eight 
get  £300 ;  about  eight  £250  ;  the  rest  £200.  King's  about  £250. 
Not  necessary  to  reside.  Thorwaldsen's  statue  of  Byron,  which 
had  been  refused  at  Wesminster  Abbey,  is  in  the  library  of 
Trinity.  I  am  yet  to  behold  any  thing  so  enchanting  in  its 
mixture  of  antique  art  and  perfect  nature  as  King's  College.  The 
grounds  are  like  green  plush,  without  even  a  daisy,  or  an  extra- 
neous leaf  on  the  smooth-rolled  turf.  This  extends  over  many 
acres  to  the  river,  and  is  encircled  and  broken  by  majestic  trees. 
The  Fellows  live  like  princes. 

In  six  hours  from  Cambridge  we  reached  Lincoln.  We  saw 
the  noble  exteriors  of  Elv  and  Peterborousfh  cathedrals,  the  sur- 
passing  tower  of  Boston  Church,  and  more  fully  Lincoln  Cathe- 
dral and  York  Minster.  And  here  we  are  on  the  edge  of  Scot- 
land, England,  Tweed,  and  the  German  Ocean.  We  are  one  day 
ahead  of  the  Queen,  who  is  to  sleep  at  Doncaster  to-morrow  on 
the  way  to  Edinburgh.  I  never  saw  so  much  wheat,  even  on 
the  Rhine,  as  I  have  seen  harvesting  during  a  week.  It  is  matter 
of  unspeakable  thanks.     This  I  feel  when  I  see  often  fifty  persons 


1851.  343 

gleaning  in  a  stubble  field.  The  country  gets  tumbled  and 
rumpled  as  you  get  into  Durham.  They  most  awkwardly  cut 
the  wheat  with  a  scythe.  But  their  stacks  and  ricks  of  immense 
height  are  worth  going  to  see.  Berwick  is  a  fine  old  town  ;  the 
clear,  black  situation,  with  hillside,  Tweed-vale  and  sea,  took  me 
by  surprise.  There  is  no  railway  known  to  me,  which  goes  so- 
long  by  a  river  of  picturesque  beauty.  Is  there  any  lovelier- 
valley  than  that  of  Tweed  1 

Edinburgh,  Augxist  30,  1851. 

The  way  from  Berwick  was  along  the  Tweed  by  Kelso  tO' 
Melrose.  Every  name  recalled  Border  history,  Burns,  and  Scott- 
How  often  has  poor  Sir  Walter's  pony  crept  along  the  sweet, 
shaded  lanes,  through  which  I  v/ent  to  Abbotsford  !  1  was  in  his 
superb  library,  and  the  study ;  saw  Chantrey's  bust,  with  abun- 
dance  of  the  things  named  by  travellers.  We  crossed  the  Gala 
Water  again  and  again.  It  is  jrenerally  said  this  borderland  is 
the  loveliest  in  Scotland.  The  little  rivers,  pure  as  crystal,  and 
winding  in  green  vales,  come  purling  in  every  now  and  then, 
and  each  is  known  in  history ;  and  here  and  there  a  castle  or 
abbey  800  years  old  rises  majestically  among  the  verdant  fields. 
The  only  trees  are  planted.  The  round  hills  are  treeless,  but 
green  or  purple  with  heather,  and  the  eye  runs  over  such  waves 
of  this  green  ocean,  that  the  distant  herds  and  flocks  look  like 
specks.  We  came  near  Flodden-field  and  saw  Dryburgh  Abbey, 
where  Scott  lies.  When  we  got  to  the  quiet  little  inn  at  Mel- 
rose, and  had  lunched  on  broiled  salmon-steak,  the  host  said : 
'•  There  is  an  American  here,  who  has  been  walking  over  the 
hills."  Presently  he  came  in ;  it  was  Major  Preston.  I  had 
already  given  him  two  adieux.  He  accompanied  us  to  Abbots- 
ford. 

How  soon  we  lose  the  Northumberland  burr  on  crossing 
Tweed,  and  what  a  diflerent  look  in  everybody !  The  children 
talking  broad  Lowland  Scotch  seem  so  funny.  I  hear  some 
boys  flying  kites — "  Jamie,  I  bate  ye  'till  be  ower  heevie — ye'll 
hae  it  agen  the  brae."  This  is  not  as  stumping  as  the  Yorkshire- 
"  He  maxum  pikum,"  (he  makes  them  pick  them  ;)  and  "  Sneck 
yett "  is  "  shut  the  gate,"  for  they  have  no  article. 

We  are  at  20  George's  square.  ]\fr.  Dickson  met  us  at  the 
terminus  with  a  cab  and  real  Scotch  hospitality.  I  enjoy  a 
Christian  house  more  than  you  can  know,  till  you  have  been 
three  months  in  hotels.  Queen  Square  is  a  private  street ;  no 
horse  or  vehicle  passes.  Sir  Walter  Scott  passed  his  boyhood 
in  this  row,  No.  27.  Back  of  us  is  Watson's  Hospital,  with  the 
meadows,  as  the  fine  avenue  is  called,  which  leads  to  the  green 


34:4  LETTERS   FROM   EUROPE. 

outskirts.  I  cannot  note  a  tithe  of  the  sights.  The  University- 
rooms  of  Chalmers',  Wilson's,  and  Hamilton's  Lectures.  Statue 
of  Burns,  by  Flaxman,  his  last  work.  The  Harrow,  where  Hogg 
lodged.  liouses  of  Hume,  Blair,  Knox,  Cardinal  Beatoun.  The 
Wynds ;  the  Tolbooth ;  Grey  Friars  Church.  The  Castle.  The 
Antiquarians'  Museum.  The  Advocates'  Library,  where  the 
librarian  showed  us  a  letter  of  Charles  L,  when  a  boy,  a  INLazarin 
Bible,  and  the  autograph  of  Waverley.  I  find  Edinburgh,  as 
often  described,  "  beautiful  for  situation,"  beyond  all  cities.  ^  It 
has  eminences,  valleys,  architecture,  mountains,  water,  wide 
prospects,  and  thronging  memories.  Surely  Scotland  is  "  a  field, 
which  the  Lord  hath  blessed." 

The  intelligence,  culture,  and  warmth  of  the  excellent  persons 
I  meet,  is  delightful.  They  are  the  quickest  people  I  ever  saw, 
and  this  is  united  to  great  piety.  I  have  fiillen  into  the  very 
circle  to  which  McCheyne's  friends  belong.  Hewitson  (his  life 
is  published  in  America)  was  an  intimate  of  Mr.  Dickson's, 
whose  name  occurs  often  in  it.  The  piety  of  the  Free  Church 
folks  of  this  school  runs  in  the  vein  of  exceeding  tenderness  and 
humility.  Among  many  others,  I  must  remember  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Cameron,  editor  of  the  Christian  Treasury  ;  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Gould,  of  the  Reformed  and  Presbyterian  church,  editor 
of  the  new  edition  of  Owen's  Works ;  Mr.  Johnstone,  of  the 
house  of  Johnstone  &  Hunter,  chief  publishers  for  the  Free 
Church ;  Dr.  Hetherington,  the  historian ;  Dr.  W.  Lindsay  Alex- 
ander, the  Independent ;  Mr.  James  Bonar,  editor  of  the  Assem- 
bly's Proceedings  ;  Mr.  Hackett,  of  the  Advocates'  Library. 

On  the  28th  the  Queen  entered  about  4  o'clock,  through 
the  Dumbiedykes  to  Holy  rood.  I  had  a  close  view.  Prince 
Albert  was  by  her  in  an  open  carriage.  The  next  carried  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  Princess  Royal.  Instead  of  receiving  the 
Queen  in  the  narrow  streets,  the  body  of  the  population  poured 
out  and  spread  themselves  in  a  broad,  green  valley,  between 
Holyrood  palace  and  the  range  of  hills  including  Arthur's  Seat, 
Salisbury  Crags,  &c.  This  ravine  was  covered  by  tens  of  thou- 
sands, not  in  a  level  mass,  but  stretching  up  the  sides  of  the 
hills  on  the  clean  turf,  higher  and  higher,  till  the  remote  groups 
were  almost  too  small  "for  vision.  The  crags  resounded  with 
enthusiastic  acclamations  and  the  roar  of  cannon.  So  happy  a 
multitude  and  so  sublime  a  gathering  I  had  not  seen.  If  the 
Queen  has  any  heart,  she  must  have  been  overcome.  She  looked 
hearty,  though  she  had  come  250  miles  that  day.  Lord  John 
Russell  was  very  much  cheered,  but  I  heard  some  Popish  hissing. 
He  visited  the  New  College  of  the  Free  Church.  Tlie  people 
love  to  speak  of  the  Queen's  punctuality  and  energy.     On  the 


1851.  345 

nio-ht  of  her  arrival  she  went  out  to  see  Lady  Buccleuch,  who  is 
ilf  and  the  next  morning  she  went  to  Donaldson's  Hospital 
before  her  early  start  northward  at  8  o'clock.  At  the  Hospital 
provision  i.^,  made  for  the  instruction  of  300  boys.  The  building 
is  so  grand,  and  the  grounds  and  prospects  so  delightful,  that  it 
is  thought  of  for  a  palace. 

At  the  "  Ragged  School "  we  saw  300  children,  all  without 
means  of  living.  They  come  every  morning  and  go  home  every 
night.  When  they  come  they  strip  off  all  their  tatters,  go  into 
a  bath,  put  on  school-clothes,  learn,  work,  have  three  meals,  then 
put  on  old  tatters  and  go  home. 

On  the  1st  of  this  month  partridge-shooting  began.  The 
number  is  surprising  of  gentlemen  with  gun-cases,  &c.,  that  one 
meets.     They  have  regular  dog-tickets  on  the  railway. 

At  the  College  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  we  saw 
the  Library,  and  the  beautiful  Hall  in  which  their  Synod  meets. 
They  have  about  130  students.  Their  professors  are  all  pastors, 
and  their  session  is  only  seven  Aveeks  !  It  is  common  for  the 
ministers  to  live  several  miles  out  of  town.  Dr.  Eadie  comes 
here  every  day  from  Glasgow  to  his  lectures.  Almost  every 
pastor  is  away  at  this  season. 

Brigg  of  Turk,  Perthshire,  September  2,  1851. 
Dr.  Robinson  and  I  left  Edinburgh  yesterday  morning.  I 
sit  at  a  window  of  my  bed-room  in  this  lonely  mountain  inn,  just 
at  the  opening  of  the  Trosachs,  or  pass  to  Loch  Katrine,  to  which  I 
expect  to  walk  after  breakfast.  All  day  yesterday  and  all  to-day, 
it  is  the  scenery  of  "  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  and  this  is  really 
what  draws  people  here ;  for  there  is  grander  scenery  in  Europe, 
but  men  love  to  go  where  poets  have  been.  On  the  way  from 
Edinburgh  were  Linlithgow  Palace,  Bannockburn,  and  Stirling 
Castle.  If  I  had  got  to  Stirling  a  day  sooner  I  should  have  seen 
the  Highland  Sports,  such  as  pitching  the  stone,  tilting,  broad- 
sword, highland-fling,  wrestling,  &c.  As  it  was  I  saw  plenty  of 
begcrars  and  barefoots,  and  part  of  the  79th  regiment  in  the 
castle,  all  bare-kneed,  but  mighty  brawny  and  big.  I  began  to  see 
the  Celtic  visage  and  hear  the  Gaelic,  which  is  a  sweet  language  and 
very  like  Irish  and  Welsh.  This  morning  the  sun  rose  beautifully 
over  a  mountain.  The  air  was  Alpine.  Huts  in  the  distance 
had  low  roofs,  and  sometimes  no  chimney,  the  blue  peat-reek 
comino-  out  of  the  door.  Wherever  you  looked,  all  was  tumbled 
up  and  down  in  fantastic  hills  and  dales,  but  perfectly  soft  and 
perfectly  green,  except  where  the  purple  heather  covered  the 
sides.  An  old  Highlander  sat  in  the  fog,  wrapped  m  his  plaid, 
with   his  shaggy  dog,  watching  a  herd.     Hay  was  making  in 

VOL.  II. 15* 


Si:6  LETTEES   FEOM   EUROPE. 

some  little  patches  far  off,  and  through  my  glass  I  saw  a  little 
girl  using  her  hands  for  pitchfork,  and  a  baby  propped  up  in  the 
hay.  We  got  into  a  vehicle,  without  cover,  and  drove  through 
the  Trosachs  to  the  Loch.  While  we  waited  for  the  steamboat 
I  mounted  a  hill,  and  lay  down  in  the  heather.  It  is  soft  and 
fragrant,  and  the  flower  is  beautiful.  It  is  not  unlike  clover  at  a 
distance,  but  taller,  and  far  more  uneven,  and  when  viewed 
closely,  is  a  beautiful  bushy  flower.  I  can  well  understand  now 
how  people  might  sleep  on  it,  and  how  the  fleeing  Covenanters, 
in  hiding,  could  escape  by  means  of  it.  No  wonder  it  is  the 
darling  growth  of  Scots.  Almost  every  one  travelling  carries 
some  heather-bloom  somewhere  about  him.  On  the  boat  we 
had  a  Highland  piper.  Why  did  he  not  play  "  Hail  to  the 
Chief,"  which  was  made  for  this  lake  ?  He  played  "  Eoy's  Wife," 
and  "  the  Campbells  are  comin'." 

We  got  out  in  sight  of  the  house  where  Rob  Roy  was  born. 
We  then  rode  five  miles  to  Loch  Lomond.  No  woods,  no  farms, 
no  cultivation  ;  all  hills  and  muir-land,  and  peat-bog  ;  all  green, 
with  thousands  of  fern  and  heather  ;  and  mountains  before  us  to 
the  north  and  on  both  sides.  I  saw  peat  or  turf  burning  for  the 
first  time.  They  cut  it  in  the  moors,  and  pile  it  in  stacks.  It 
makes  a  nice,  gentle  fire,  and  the  smell  is  pleasant.  The  people 
have  little  tillage,  and  live  by  their  cattle  and  sheep.  Almost 
every  man  wears  a  plaid  around  him,  and  so  do  half  the  gentle- 
men tourists.  Stunted  trees  of  tangled  growth  sometimes 
appear.  Stone  fences  run  irregularly  up  and  down,  often  sur- 
mounted by  scrubby  dwarf-oak  hedge,  and  with  every  crevice  full 
of  mingling  fern,  broom,  and  heather.  Black  cattle  and  black- 
faced  sheep  roam  over  the  muir-land.  The  whole  scenery  is  wild 
and  novel,  but  thus  far  less  lofty  than  I  expected.  The  trip  in 
a  cart  from  Katrine  to  Lomond  was  very  jolting,  but  O  the  sin- 
gular, dream-like  wildness  of  those  hills  and  moors,  where  a  man 
would  be  lost  in  half  an  hour,  if  he  left  the  only  road,  and  yet 
no  forest !  Look  on  every  side,  and  see  the  horizon  shut  in 
sometimes  by  rocky  mountains  of  every  varied  contour  which 
primitive  granite  can  take,  but  seldom  bare,  and  for  miles  to- 
gether gently  blushing  with  the  flower  of  the  heaths  now  in 
their  glory.  Within  this  bounding  rim,  see  the  country  tossed 
up  and  down,  as  if  the  ocean  in  a  long  roll  had  suddenly  been 
turned  into  green  land ;  for  everywhere  the  green  is  perfect, 
and  the  matted  grass  is  short  and  thick  like  moleskin.  Mark 
the  silver  rill  that  meanders  on  the  left  to  join  Lake  Artlet  to  Loch 
Lomond,  showing  that  we  have  passed  the  water- slied,  and  go 
down.  Observe  the  low  piles  of  granite  rocks,  without  mortar, 
without  window,  thatched  or  turfed,  the  smoke  coming  out  of 


1851.  347 

the  chimney  or  door,  and  the  truncated  pyramid  of  black  peat 
standing  by.  Do  not  neglect  the  million  gay- flowers  with  which 
God  has  beautified  these  solitudes,  nor  the  fantastic  mists  and 
clouds  that  roll  about  the  eminences  of  Ben  An,  Ben  Venn,  and 
Ben  Lomond. 

Glasgow,  September  10,  1851. 
At  Balloch,  on  lake  Lomond,  we  took  rails  for  Dumbarton ; 
saw  the  wonderful  castle,  but  did  not  hear  "  Dumbarton  drums 
beat  bonnie  O."  I  had  seen  many  castles,  but  for  singular 
prominency  this  exceeds.  The  twin  mount,  on  which  it  is  built, 
rises  out  of  the  river  beach,  as  if  a  gigantic  elephant  had  pushed 
himself  half  vyay  out  of  the  flats.  This,  like  Stirling,  is  kept 
garrisoned,  by  provisions  in  the  treaty  of  union.  Here  we  took 
steamboat  for  Glasgow,  and  ascended  the  broad  Clyde.  Every 
mile  showed  us  the  approach  of  a  great  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing city.  It  is  a  noble  town,  is  Glasgow,  (as  the  English 
express  it.)  The  college  is  of  the  grand  stone  common  here, 
and  has  some  massy  houses  and  quadrangles.  The  professors 
have  quite  a  street  of  academic  mansions.  The  Hunterian 
Museum  is  rich  in  MSS.,  printed  incunabula,  and  medals.  A 
Virgil  of  1470.  A  Golden  Legend,  Caxton,  1483.  An  Antho- 
logia,  by  Aldus,  1503.  A  Plotinus,  ed.  princeps,  1513.  A 
stereotype  plate,  used  by  Ged,  in  his  Sallust,  1744,  long  before 
Didot.  Principal  Macflirlane  preaches  in  the  old  cathedral.  The 
beautiful  choir  is  the  place  of  worship ;  behind  this  is  a  Ladv 
Chapel ;  then  a  Chapter  House,  used  as  a  vestry.  The  crypts 
are  very  old  and  in  good  repair.  Here  Scott  makes  Rob  Roy 
to  have  li.«tened  to  the  long  sermon.  The  Green,  or  Common,  a 
law]i  with  a  drive  of  2^  miles,  was  swarming  with  poor,  drying 
clothes,^ and  young  folk  playing  and  lying  on  the  grass  in  a  smar^t 
rain.  The  Bridge  Gate,  full  of  wretched  poor,  such  as  I  have 
seen  nowhere  else.  The  Tron  Church  and  St.  John's,  memorable 
for  the  labours  of  Chalmers.  The  new  parts  of  Glasgow  are 
better  built  than  Edinburgh  ;  though  the  site  is  far  inferior,  yet 
equal  to  almost  any  other  place.  Houses  of  the  finest  sort  rent 
for  £100  to  £120.  They  are  built  of  a  dark  solid  stone  laid  in 
large  pieces.  The  smoke  of  factories  keeps  the  town  in  such  a 
smoke  as  I  have  not  seen  before.  The  Mitchells  are  full  of 
hospitable  warmth.  Mr.  Andrew  Mitchell  lives  at  Helensburgh, 
twenty-nine  miles  down  the  Clyde  opposite  Greenock,  but  comes 
up  daily  to  his  warehouse  in  Virginia  street. 

I  attended,  at  Grey  Friars  Church,  the  ordination  of  Mr. 
Leach^  the  missionary  for  ]\Iadras,  by  the  United  Presbytery. 
Dr.   King  preached  a  great  sermon   from   2  John  8,     It  was 


348  LETTERS   FROM   EUROPE. 

memoriter,  and  eloquent  in  a  high  degree;  polished,  ingenious, 
and  faithful.  They  had  a  choir,  and  artificial  music,  but  all 
sang. 

Dr.  Symington,  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church, 
(brother  of  the  theological  professor  of  Paisley,)  showed  me 
an  original  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  I  breakfasted 
with  the  Rev.  David  Brown,  of  Free  St.  James's — the  writer  on 
the  Millennium.  Went  to  Paisley  and  saw  the  Abbey  and 
Dr.  Witherspoon's  old  church. 

The  7th  was  spent  in  a  visit  among  the  Highland  lochs,  with 
the  Mitchells,  Rev.  Mr.  McEwen,  &c.  The  great  characteristics 
of  Scottish  scenery  were  here  apparent.  The  granitic  hills  come 
down  everywhere  to  the  water,  leaving  little  laps  of  land  for 
towns  and  seats.  They  run  dow^n  in  such  wise  to  the  great  estu- 
aries that  they  are  all  cut  into  indentures  like  glove-fingers. 
These  run  up  among  the  highlands,  and  are  girt  with  soft  hill- 
sides, beyond  which  mountains  rise  and  peep.  I  was  among 
these  lochs,  sometimes  in  steamboat,  sometimes  in  row-boat, 
and  often  on  foot.  On  every  hand  were  towns,  churches,  man- 
sions, noble  seats,  but  generally  wild  walks  for  cattle  and  sheep. 
We  saw  Loch  Long,  Gare  Loch,  Loch  Goil,  and  Holy  Loch.  In 
so  doing,  we  saAV  Greenock,  Gourock,  Dunoon,  (of  which  Dr. 
Mackay  is  minister,)  Ardentinny,  Roseneath,  (where  is  the 
Duke  of  Argyle's  seat.)  The  population  of  Glasgow  fly  to  these 
seaward  slopes.  Some  of  the  towns  are  made  up  of  villas. 
Plenty  of  Gaels,  with  kilt  and  mull  and  guttural  but  soft  lan- 
guage. The  nestling  churches  and  manses  of  Presbyterians  differ- 
ing only  in  name,  and  the  cheerful  aspect  of  a  pleasure- taking 
yeomanry,  gave  me  an  unwonted  delight. 

The  8th — a  lovely,  placid  Sabbath — was  spent  in  Helens- 
burgh. Such  places  and  such  scenes  must  have  been  in  the  mind 
of  Grahame  when  he  wrote  his  "  Sabbath."  The  hills  lie  softly 
on  every  side  of  the  frith  and  around  the  neighbouring  lochs. 
Small  towns  twinkle  in  the  half  veiled  sun  across  the  water.  The 
harvests,  only  partly  cut,  shine  over  the  rounded  fields.  There 
is  a  perfect  stillness.  The  temperature  just  admits,  but  does  not 
demand  fire.  The  town  seems  about  the  size  of  Princeton,  and 
has  an  Established  Church,  a  Free  Church,  a  United  Presby- 
terian, and  an  Independent.  I  worshipped  with  the  third  of 
these.  The  assembly  was  about  equal  to  yours  in  Trenton. 
They  were  plain  people  in  general,  with  a  considerable  sprinkling 
of  gentry.  A  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle  is  a  frequent  hearer. 
Mr.  ]\IcEwen  preached  in  the  morning  on  Col.  iii.  17,  the  next 
verse  to  what  Dr.  Hamilton  preached  on  in  London.  I  preached 
in  the  afternoon  from  Jude  20,  2L     It  was  like  a  revival  meet- 


1851.  349 

ing  all  day,  for  earnest  hearing,  looks  of  fire  and  affection,  and 
psalmody  that  I  never  can  forget.  In  the  evening  at  IMr.  Mitch- 
ell's, some  one  suddenly  observed  that  every  man  in  the  room 
was  a  minister's  son ;  and  we  soon  discovered  that  four  of  the 
five  were  ministers'  grandsons.  One  of  the  company  was  Mr. 
Hugh  Moncrieff,  a  descendant  of  the  original  Seceder.  The  Se- 
cession body  gave  more  than  two-thirds  to  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church.  They  are  together  the  most  liberal  of  the  Scotch 
Presbyterians.  They  have  much  of  the  best  pulpit  talent  in 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  The  prayers  affect  me  more  than  the 
preaching. 

The  Duke  of  Argyle's  domain  is  very  large,  and  I  passed  on 
foot  through  that  part  of  it  which  lies  between  Loch  Long  and 
the  Gare  Loch.  I  passed  the  solid,  modest  new  Free  Church, 
with  its  tent  for  sacraments,  and  visited  the  Established  Kirk  of 
Poseneath.  Turning  into  a  green  lane,  I  found  about  twenty- 
six  low  stone  cottages  close  side  by  side.  Then  came  the  ancient 
grave-yard,  overhung  by  trees,  with  walled  enclosures  for  noble 
families,  &c.  Outside  of  this  is  the  parish  school  and  school- 
master's house,  very  well  built  and  snug.  The  dominie  showed 
me  the  church,  which  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  grave-yard.  It 
is  on  a  very  narrow  parallelogram,  by  far  the  narrowest  church  I 
ever  saw.  The  pulpit  and  pews  are  unpainted,  and  the  stone  floor 
is  cold  and  even  wet.  Tlie  sacramental  table  was  longitudinally 
the  whole  length.  Quality  folks  use  the  gallery,  and  the  Duke's 
pew  is  just  opposite  to  the  pulpit  and  singularly  near  it.  Going 
out  of  the  grave-yard,  you  enter  a  park  belonging  to  the  kirk, 
with  the  most  extraordinary  avenue  of  yews  within,  and  limes 
without.  They  mingle  for  such  a  length,  that  in  the  remote  per- 
spective it  is  almost  night-like.  This  charge  of  perhaps  £180 
cannot  have  more  than  forty  hearers.  The  manse  is  a  beautiful 
cottage,  overgrown  with  vines,  about  half  a  mile  off.  From 
here  you  look  over  the  Loch  to  Row,  famous  for  the  "  Row 
heresy." 

We  Avere  accompanied  on  our  return  to  Glasgow  by  Mr. 
James  Smith  of  Jordanhill,  who,  at  70,  has  his  yacht-pea-jacket 
on,  and  talks  freely  about  Greek  antiquities.  He  presented  nie 
a  copy  of  his  learned  monograph  on  Paul's  Shipwreck.  He  is 
of  the  Establishment,  [Presbyterian.]  More  walks  over  the 
city.  Called  on  Dr.  Runciman  of  St.  Andrew's  (Established) 
Church.  He  does  well  here,  and  has  filled  his  church  from  the 
wynds.     His  reception  of  me  was  cordial  and  elegant. 

My  mind,  as  you  would  expect,  has  been  much  on  the  Presby- 
terianism  of  Scotland.  The  surface-view,  which  a  mere  guest 
takes,  is  perhaps  worth  little,  but  I  am  seeing  much  and  hearing 


350  LETTERS   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

more  in  answer  to  my  queries.  In  general,  the  absolute  state 
of  religion  in  Scotland  is  higher  than  I  thought.  The  events 
following  the  Disruption  have  wrought  more  widely  and  deeply. 
The  effect  on  the  Establishments  has  been  to  make  them  better 
and  not  worse.  There  is  not  a  parish  [Established]  preacher, 
who  would  not  resent  the  charge  of  being  Arminian.  They 
have  noble  charities,  and  the  Normal  schools,  &;c.,  are  palatial. 
The  Free  Church  is  striving  hard  to  keep  up  at  the  speed  which 
they  began.  Nowhere,  except  in  some  new-measure  spots  of 
old,  have  I  seen  such  signs  of  universal  working,  by  Bible-classes, 
tracts,  books,  hymns,  domiciliary  visits,  care  of  poor.  Sabbath 
schools,  &c.  They  cannot  help  remembering  their  undue  zeal 
against  Voluntaries,  and  burden  themselves  by  claiming  to  be  the 
Kirk,  and  so  by  planting  a  church  beside  every  national  church  all 
over  Scotland.  Their  mighty  man  is  Hugh  Miller.  He  is  hot, 
excitable,  and  on  occasion  implacable.  I  see  much  to  make  me 
believe  that  the  power  of  Scotch  Presbyterianism  is  in  the  United 
Presbyteries.  They  have  no  hypotheses  in  petto.  They  are  more 
like  us.  They  have  acquired  a  status  by  the  Disruption,  and  work 
heartily  with  the  Free  Church.  There  never  can  be  any  vital  pre- 
lacy here.  The  Episcopalians  here  are  about  as  often  mentioned  as 
the  Moravians  with  us.  The  clergymen  of  the  Free  Church  whom 
I  have  seen  are  exceedingly  well-informed  as  to  our  American 
churches,  and  acquainted  with  our  literature.  The  education  of 
the  rising  ministry  is  going  forward  with  great  zeal.  In  acquaint- 
ance with  all  the  modern  works  of  German  interpretation,  the 
new  race  of  ministers  will  be  much  before  those  of  the  Anglican 
Church.  When  I  speak  of  the  Free  Church,  I  mean  that  the 
remark  should  apply  to  all  the  Dissenters  of  Scotland,  between 
the  different  classes  of  whom  there  is  an  increasing  fellowship. 
Even  the  Reformed  Presbyterians  appear  to  be  separated  by  a 
scarcely  distinguishable  interval  from  the  others.  The  angriness 
of  the  controversy  concerning  the  Atonement  seems  to  have 
departed  ;  whether  with  any  sacrifice  of  old  Calvinistic  tenets  in 
any  quarter  it  would  not  become  a  passing  stranger  to  determine. 
Both  in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  the  eye  is  continually  saluted 
by  Presbyterian  structures.  Many  of  these  are  in  the  modern 
Gothic  style,  and  some  are  florid  in  a  high  degree.  Their  interiors, 
however,  are  less  airy  and  ornate  than  with  us.  All  the  Scottish 
churches  have  vestries,  and  all  the  ministers  wear  the  Geneva 
gown  or  cloak,  which  has  come  down  from  the  days  of  Knox. 
In  some  churches  the  preacher  pronounces  the  Lord's  Prayer 
immediately  before  the  sermon.  The  old  version  of  the  Psalms 
is  universal.  The  prayer  after  sermon  is  uniformly  longer  than 
with  us,  and  the  service  varies  from  an  hour  and  three-quarters 


1851.  351 

to  two  hours.  At  this  season  the  usual  hours  in  town  are 
eleven  and  two.  The  custom  of  "  turning  up  "  the  passage 
remains  in  all  its  strength,  and  hundreds  of  Bibles  are  rustling 
at  once.  So  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  topics  which  fill  the  pulpits 
are  just  those  which  fill  the  Catechism ;  and  the  general  strain 
of  preaching  is  not  so  much  alarming  as  persuasive.  The  person 
and  work  of  our  Lord  form  a  prominent  part  of  public  discourses. 
Great  diversities,  of  course,  obtain  among  men  of  various  gifls 
and  temper,  but  in  general  there  is  much  earnestness  in  public 
addresses.  In  the  cities  many  sermons  are  read  from  the  manu- 
scripts, but  the  country  parishes  scarcely  tolerate  this. 

Belfast,  September  16,  1851. 

If  you  knew  that  my  letters  are  generally  written  on  my 
knee,  you  would  wonder  that  there  is  any  handwriting  about 
them.  I  write  this,  that  you  may  know  of  my  safe  arrival  in 
the  land  and  province  of  my  progenitors,  after  the  dangers  of 
the  North  Channel.  There  is  something  very  solemn  in  approach- 
ing a  new  country  by  morning  twilight ;  both  my  views  of  Ire- 
land have  been  such.  As  this  is  the  great  mart  of  the  linen 
trade,  one  of  my  visits  was  (with  Dr.  Maclean  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Mitchell)  to  the  Linen  Hall,  where  we  saw  the  article  in  all  its 
varieties.  An  English  Quaker  gave  us  many  explanations.  He 
showed  us  the  different  bleached  and  unbleached  fabrics.  Some- 
times a  linen-house  pays  a  thousand  pounds  in  a  week  to  hand- 
loom  cottage-weavers.  But  cottage-spinning,  so  famous  in  the 
days  of  my  great-grandfather,  has  been  done  away  by  machinery. 
We  saw  how  gaudily  the  shirtings  are  put  up  for  the  American 
market.  Also  the  difference  of  the  linen  for  the  British  trade, 
which  has  less  starch  and  less  "  beetling,"  as  a  pounding  is  called, 
which  flattens  the  thread.  The  British  fabric  looks  as  well  after 
washing  as  before.  No  person  whom  I  have  questioned,  knows 
any  thing  of  the  new  operation  for  dressing  flaxen  thread,  so  as 
to  remove  the  "  cold  feel "  which  distinguishes  linen  from  cotton 
goods.  It  was  boasted  that  this  would  make  flax  take  the  place 
of  cotton.  American  flour  is  largely  used  here,  as  also  in  Glas- 
gow ;  at  about  £1  \s.  the  barrel. 

A  jaunting-car  took  us  to  Cave  Hill,  where  we  had  as  good 
a  view  of  the  Lough  and  surrounding  country  as  this  hazy  at- 
mosphere allows.  The  Divis  and  other  hills  are  fine.  Abun- 
dance of  water  comes  down  from  these  heights.  The  country 
houses  look  well,  but  every  thing  lacks  the  trim  finish  to  which 
my  eye  has  been  accustomed.  The  hills  are  without  heather 
and  often  bare.     In  and  near  the  town  I  see  numbers  of  ne'er- 


352 


LETTERS   FEOM   EFKOPE. 


do-weels,  half-naked  children,  and  canal-digger-like  men,  but  no 
tokens  of  absolute  distress.  I  am  surprised  that  things  are  so 
familiar.  It  arises  from  the  American  look  of  the  brick  houses, 
the  imperfect  keeping  of  the  lawns,  and  the  Scotch-Irish  counte- 
nance of  the  peasantry. 

The  drive  along  the  sea-shore  to  the  Giant's  Causeway  was 
delightful.     The  beach  is  not  sand,  but  generally  beautiful  rock, 
often  limestone,  which  keeps  the  water  from  being  muddy.     It  is 
as  clear  as  a  spring,  and  the  mottled  bottom  has  a  novel  appear . 
ance.     The  curves  of  the  bays  are  beautiful.     But  every  thing 
derives  its  character  from  the  cliffs  and  mountains,  which  were 
always  on  our   left,  rising   high  and   magnificent,  with  basalt 
columns  and  wonderful  freaks  of  the  igneous  rocks,  giving  pre- 
monitions of  what  appears  in  its  perfection  at  the  Causeway. 
The  whole  north-east  shore  derives  its  picturesque  loftiness  from 
the  primitive  and  basaltic  rock,  which  girdles  the  inner  limestone 
and  other  stratified  rocks  of  the  island.     When  we  began  to  turn 
inland,  m'c  had  beauties  of  a  different  sort ;  mountain  prospects, 
long  winding  treeless  glens,  hill-sides  covered  with  the  chequered 
oat-fields  and  pastures,  occasional  moors  with  peat,  cottages  and 
flocks,  browsing  goats  and  merry  peasants.     On  leaving  Bally- 
castle,  where  is  a  fine  old  ruin,  we  found  a  highly  cultivated 
country.     The  church  of  Ballintoy  seems  almost  in  the  sea,  and 
the  manse  is  a  cold,  white  solitary  house  looking  over  the  water 
to  Rathlin.     I  saw  the  sun  go  down,  a  disk  of  molten  gold,  over 
the  foreland  of  Bengore.     About  nine  in  the  evening  I  saw  a 
beautiful  Aurora  Borealis — -well  so  called  at  this  point.     It  was 
a  zone  arched  over  a  chord  of  about  sixty  degrees  of  the  horizon, 
having  Arcturus  in  the  centre,  with  bright  radiations  striking  up 
from  several  points. 

The  prints  generally  represent  the  scene  about  the  Causeway, 
£0  as  to  give  the  neighbouring  pi-ecipices  as  the  Causeway.  These 
precipices  are  grand,  and  are  likewise  columnar,  but  they  are 
nothing  to  the  main  object.  The  Causeway  is  well  named.  It 
is  a  platform  jutting  out  in  three  capes  into  the  sea,  toward 
which  it  inclines.  It  is  not  very  high  above  the  water.  It  is 
made  of  columns,  side  by  side,  perfectly  dry  and  close.  You 
cannot  thrust  a  knife  between  some  of  the  junctures.  These 
columns  go  down  unknown  lengths.  They  are  exposed  on  the 
hill-sides,  so  that  you  can  see  them  joined  together  in  pieces. 
Where  one  end  joins  another  there  is  a  concavity  fitting  a  con- 
vexity, which  is  as  wonderful  as  any  thing.  It  is  on  the  tops  of 
these  joined  pillars  that  you  walk.  The  surflice  is  a  little  uneven, 
but  in  general  may  be  described  as  plane.  The  columns  are  of 
dark  gray  basalt.     They  are  polygonal  prisms — hexagons,  pen- 


1851.  353 

tagons,  a  few  heptagons.  I  saw  one  nonagon,  one  square,  and  one 
rhombus.  The  little  concavities  in  some  hold  sea-water,  which 
leaves  salt ;  and  on  most  of  them  are  numerous  lichens,  and  even 
small  flowers.  Piles  of  these  blocks  are  taken  awav,  even  to 
America.  Our  guide  delivers  a  set  at  Liverpool  for  about  £4. 
There  are  two  famous  caves.  I  entered  one  of  them,  Port  Coon. 
The  effect  is  awful.  You  have  at  your  back  a  cavernous  depth 
of  dark,  and  in  front  the  wild  ocean  roaring  in  to  your  feet. 


Dublin,  September  18,  1851. 

My  first  stage  from  Belfast  was  to  Armagh,  a  fine  old  town, 
where  the  Papists  are  building  a  cathedral,  which  Dr.  Cullen 
says  shall  surpass  the  Anglican  one.  Here  we  coached  it  across 
the  county  to  Castle  Blayney.  The  country  has  the  same  undu- 
lations, but  looks  worse ;  smaller  patches,  ruder  hovels,  more 
wastes,  later  oats,  and  dirtier  folks.  At  Blayney  we  took  cars  for 
Dublin.  Drogheda  is  a  seaport,  and  has  a  brisk  commerce,  fine 
edifices,  a  stern,  middle-age  gate,  but  we  drove  through  long 
streets  of  blank,  ugly,  stone,  one-story  thatched  hovels,  and  were 
infested  with  beggars.  From  there  southward  through  the 
counties  Louth  and  Meath,  the  beauties  increased  every  mile. 
Often  we  were  by  the  sea,  and  at  Malahide  Bay  were  carried  over 
its  noble  arm.  Howth  Head  is  a  grand  eminence,  and  the  ap- 
proach to  Dublin  is  famous.  Its  capacious  bay,  its  broad  river, 
its  eight  bridges,  and  its  superior  public  edifices,  tell  of  grandeur, 
which  is  every  day  decreasing. 

Saw  the  poplin-looms  at  Atkinson's,  Sackville  street.  He 
sells  nothing  but  poplins,  and  only  to  retail-buyers.  Got  a  sam- 
ple of  a  dress  worn  by  the  Queen,  fifteen  dollars  a  yard.  Phoenix 
park  is  seven  miles  round,  and  contains  1,760  acres. 

I  made  a  trip  to  Inch  to  inquire  about  the  relatives  of  our 
servants  at  home.  Their  mother  had  gone  to  America,  but  was 
directed  to  a  brother.  I  went  there.  Poor  man  !  he  denied  his 
name,  and  was  afraid  to  come  out,  fearing  no  doubt  some  proctor 
or  landlord's  agent  to  turn  him  out.  At  this  point  I  made 
known  my  purpose,  and  a  great  change  came  over  them.  As 
many  as  seven  persons,  old  and  young,  came  out  of  the  cottage- 
door,  and  gathered  around  my  jaunting-car.  They  asked  many 
questions  about  the  girls,  and  said  all  here  were  well.  AVhen  I 
rode  away,  the  blessings  of  the  whole  group  followed  me  in  most 
hearty  Irish.  The  country  around  Thurles,  Drum,  and  Inch,  is 
very  beautiful  and  the  roads  are  like  a  floor,  with  walls  or  hedges. 
Indeed  I  can  no  longer  say  Ireland  is  without  levels,  for  we 
were  in  a  stretch  of  flat  land  most  of  the  way  from  Dublin. 


354  LETTERS   FROM   EUROPE. 

But  then  on  our  right  we  had  the  blue  ridge  of  Sliebh  Bloom, 
which  we  flanked,  and  took  its  south-west  on  our  right  in  going 
to  Limerick.  At  Thurles  Ave  got  out.  The  most  of  it  is  of 
white  rough-cast  stone  houses  thatched;  with  irregular  streets 
and  a  little  dirty  market-place,  where  a  score  of  women  have 
piles  of  excellent  potatoes  on  the  earth.  Beggars  and  tattered 
hordes  of  lazzaroni,  more  ragged  than  those  of  Drogheda,  roamed 
in  the  ways.  Thurles  is  a  very  churchly  little  town,  and  was 
once  a  great  one.  Three  castles  in  ruins,  a  monastery,  two  nun- 
neries, a  college,  an  English  church,  a  chapel,  barracks  for  the 
soldiery,  barracks  for  the  constabulary  police,  poorhouses,  (here 
as  elsewhere  fine  edifices,  and  lately  containing  1,700  poor,) 
female  schools,  and  other  charities.  Here  the  great  Popish  Synod 
met  some  months  ago. 

I  inquired  at  Inch  for  L.'s  father,  and  saw  him.  He  bears  a 
good  character,  but  is  very  poor,  and  patched  to  a  mournful 
degree.  He  had  heard  nothing  from  L.  for  eighteen  months. 
The  poor  old  man  has  no  longer  any  work  at  the  college.  Great 
numbers  have  gone  to  America  from  Tipperary.  Twelve  cottages 
were  desolate  on  a  mile  of  road.  Only  one  tenant  is  left  on 
:Mr.  Trant's  estate,  which  is  six  miles  long.  This  is  the  worst 
county  in  Ireland  for  shooting  landlords  and  proctors.  The  land 
is  good,  but  the  people  look  dogged  and  unhappy.  From  Thurles 
to  Limerick  we  had  broad  pastures  and  romantic  hills.  Take  it 
altogether,  Ireland  is  a  land  of  unsurpassed  charms  of  the  green, 
wild,  and  quiet  sort.  You  are  hardly  ever  out  of  sight  of  some 
ivy-crowned  ruin,  castle,  church,  or  abbey,  telling  of  the  power 
which  has  gone  by. 

Roman  Catholic  Ireland  is  depopulating  in  some  sense. 
Small  cottage-farms  are  disappearing,  large  estates  are  growing 
larger,  fewer  hands  are  required  for  pastures  and  sheepwalks  ; 
better  cultivation  will  make  this  beautiful,  this  enchanting  island, 
more  beautiful  and  enchanting ;  the  Celtic  race  will  be  increasing 
in  America  and  Australia,  and  the  over-stocked  priesthood  of 
Ireland  will  lose  its  slaves  and  its  supports.  Ulster  is  in  a 
different  case.  It  smiles  with  agricultural,  pastoral,  and  manu- 
lacturing  wealth,  and  has  spots  unsurpassed  on  earth. 

I  found  that  our  ]\Iinister,  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  had  been  at 
Limerick  and  at  Galway,  and  was  down  the  river  with  Lord 
Monteagle  and  others.  As  to  Limerick— 50,000  population— 
the  new  town  is  beautifully  built,  no  place  of  it  size  is  more 
showy.  The  people  in  the  good  streets  are  handsome  and  elegant ; 
but  the  masses  in  the  over-croAvded  lanes  and  along  the  quays 
and  noble  bridges,  beat  all  I  ever  beheld  for  abandoned,  rowdy, 
jovial,  beggarly  appearance.     Such  rags,  such  stench,  such  impu- 


1851.  355 

dence,  such  almost  naked,  though  often  ruddy  and  handsome 
Irishism,  1  find  not  even  in  Ireland.  The  grand  old  cathedral  is 
begirt  with  offensive  smells  and  fearful  sights.  I  doubt  whether 
Venice  is  more  full  of  license  than  Limerick.  Here  popery- 
revels.  The  new  part  of  Limerick  is  more  fair  and  regular 
than  Belfast,  with  streets  like  Chestnut  street  somewhat  vulgar- 
ized. But  who  can  describe  the  gangs  of  wretched,  wanton, 
ro^^stering,  impudent  women  and  children,  half-naked,  tattered 
and  foul,  who  sit,  sprawl,  lie,  squat,  bluster  and  laugh  about  the 
cathedral,  the  bridges,  and  the  quays  ! 

The  mountains  on  our  left  after  quitting  Dublin,  were  no 
doubt  part  of  the  Wicklow  cluster.  Kildare  was  an  interesting 
point.  Its  ruined  abbey,  and  tower  130  feet  high,  are  grand  ob- 
jects. Portarlington  is  noted  as  the  place  of  Wellington's 
education.  A  French  colony  till  lately  had  French  preaching 
here.  There  are  many  boarding-schools,  and  we  saw  a  bevy  of 
fine  young  girls  going  to  the  capital.  All  the  country  scenes 
rich  ;  much  pasture,  heavy  hay,  some  oats,  occasional  bog  with 
piles  of  turf,  few  cottages,  few  labourers  in  the  fields,  and  these 
were  more  haggard  and  woe-begone  than  in  even  the  middle 
counties.  This  whole  vale  is  more  wooded  than  usual.  As  we 
entered  Tipperary  the  land  looked  flatter  and  more  neglected, 
but  with  more  numerous  broken-down  castles  and  some  good 
mountains  towards  the  south. 

Galway,  September  21,  1851. 
On  the  20th  I  left  Limerick  on  the  top  of  an  old-fashioned 
mail  coach,  of  Which  there  are  more  remaining  in  Ireland  than 
in  England.  The  roads  were  fine,  and  perfectly  smooth  all  day, 
and  as  the  country  is  limestone,  and  rocky,  were  without  excep- 
tion lined  by  stone  walls  for  all  the  sixty-four  miles  (Irish)  to 
Galway.  Castles  and  abbeys  in  ruins  were  scarcely  ever  out  of 
sight.  The  country  grew  poorer  and  rockier  as  we  went  on,  and 
the  small  dust  of  the  limestone  roads  was  exactly  like  rye-flour. 
At  Clare,  a  small  wretched  town,  with  a  beautiful  site,  we  saw 
hundreds  of  young  women  and  girls  on  the  river  bank.  I  was  told 
their  mates  have  gone  to  America.  The  fields  look  stony  and 
poor,  and  the  whole  country  is  marked  up  by  the  ugly  stone 
dykes.  Moors  or  bogs  are  not  very  frequent.  The  roads  abound 
with  foot-people ;  they  are  squat,  flat-faced,  homely,  and  often 
brown.  At  Ennis  we  left  the  coach  for  a  jaunting-car.  Ennis 
is  the  chief  town  of  the  county  Clare.  It  is  made  up  chiefly  of 
one-story  hovels,  thatched.  It  was  market-day,  and  the  peasantry 
were  crowding  the  market-place.  This  day,  it  seemed  to  me, 
that  I  saw  more  asses  than  in  all  my  previous  life.     The  same 


356  LETTEES   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

poor,  barren,  stony,  white  land,  prevailed  all  the  way  to  Gort ; 
but  when  we  came  near  to  Gort,  we  arrived  at  the  demesne  of  the 
Viscount  Gort,  extending  some  miles.  We  drove  through  it. 
Though  he  is  poor,  the  castle  is  fine,  and  the  grounds  are  in  a 
fine  style  of  landscape-gardening,  with  parks,  deer,  avenues  of  ash 
and  beech,  dark  and  romantic ;  glimpses  over  the  lovely  lake 
Cootra  of  sloping  mountains,  and  exit  by  a  grand  carved  portal. 
A  little  beyond  we  got  out  to  see  a  great  natural  curiosity.  A 
river,  called  Blackwater,  runs  out  of  the  lake,  and  then  goes 
under  ground,  and  reappears  in  a  wonderful  manner  in  a  deep 
place  fifty  feet  down  like  a  goblet,  and  called  the  Punch  Bowl. 
We  are  now  in  the  county  Galway,  Province  of  Connaught.  It 
was  market-day  at  Gort  also,  and  from  the  inn  where  we  dined 
we  looked  out  on  the  broad  but  irregular  market-place.  Here 
we  w^ere  among  the  aboriginal  Irish.  The  women  wear  a  dark 
blue  cloak  and  hood,  and  red  petticoat.  The  scene  was  novel 
and  lively.  Crowds  and  groups,  stalls,  booths,  and  tents.  One 
was  selling  kitchen  stuff  by  auction.  A  woman  had  four  hats  on 
a  board,  and  another  two.  One  had  dulse,  [an  edible  sea-weed.] 
There  were  carts  of  buttermilk  packed  in  straw  around  kegs. 
Stalls  of  shoes,  and  of  nails  in  little  parcels.  A  woman  brings 
a  hen  or  a  dozen  eggs  for  a  mile.  A  girl  had  a  donkey  to  sell, 
and  held  it  by  a  straw  rope.  Pigs,  washed  clean,  were  conducted 
by  the  same  sort  of  line.  Potatoes,  of  course,  abounded.  Hay 
in  bundles  ;  heather  brooms  ;  sacks  of  oatmeal.  Plenty  of  rags 
and  little  appearance  of  dress.  Red  coats  here  and  there  pre- 
dominating over  the  sport,  Connaught-men,  and  a  good  many 
in  the  constabulary  uniform. 

We  took  another  car,  and  posted  to  Galway.  The  same 
scene ;  walls,  ruined  cottages,  roads  full  of  women  in  hoods, 
and  groups  of  travellers  from  the  market.  Occasionally,  a 
"  plantation  "  announced  a  rich  estate.  Ruined  cottages,  with 
only  walls.  All  gone  to  America.  An  English  clergyman  tells 
me  he  counted  114  such  ruined  cabins  in  eight  miles  in  Mayo. 
Galway  and  Mayo  suffered  more  than  any  other  counties.  I 
passed  a  hut,  and  saw  the  w^iman  on  the  straw-bed,  her  only  seat. 
All  speak  Irish.  Two  poor  little  boys,  about  four  years  old, 
came  to  beg.  The  larger  one  said,  apologizing  for  the  silence 
of  the  other,  "  he  has  no  Inglis." 

Galway  is  the  fifth  city  of  Ireland,  and  has  about  20,000. 
It  has  some  fine  buildings.  The  Queen's  College  is  magnificent. 
There  are  also  the  two  court-houses,  the  Union  or  Poor-House, 
the  usual  barracks,  several  monasteries,  and  several  Catholic 
chapels.  But  whole  streets  are  of  one-story  hovels,  close  to- 
gether, dark  and  thatched.     The  noble  estuary  and  neighbouring 


1851.  357 

lake  give  dignity  to  a  place  which  is  far,  far  beyond  all  I  ever 
dreamed  of  for  squalor,  filth,  and  poverty. 

On  the  Sabbath  I  found  the  principal  street  crowded  with 
people  even  more  than  Princeton  in  an  old-time  Commencement. 
All   talking   Irish.     Not   one   well-dressed   person.     Even   the 
female  sex  shows  no  care  for  finery  or  cleanliness.     Dark  cloaks 
and  broad-ruffled  caps,  without  bonnets  or  shoes  or  stockings, 
and  with  red  petticoats.     Women  carrying  babies  in  their  cloaks' 
behind  them.   ^It  is  difficult  to  get  through  the  throng  in  the 
mid-street.     Women  in  red  wrappings.     Lines  of  women  sitting 
on  the  ground.     Little  appearance  of  drink  or  gaiety.     No  good 
faces,  but  many  open,  funny  ones.     I  am  reminded  of  squaws. 
I  never  saw  such  rags,  holes,  fringes  of  tatters,  filth,  combless 
black  locks,  and  babies  half  exposed  and  shamefully  uncovered. 
I  saw  a  thousand  such.    These  are  Irish  of  the  Irish.    Men  in  knee- 
breeches.     Beggars  follow  you  for  a  furlong  full  of  wit,  comic 
entreaty,  and  prayers  for  your  welfiire.     A  gentleman,  who  has 
been  at  Connemara,  says  their  car  was  surrounded  by  a  hundred 
at  once.     The  stench  of  the  w\ays  is  horrible.     Near  the  chapels 
the  crowds  are  indescribable.     The  English  church  was  a  Catho- 
lic one  till  the  time  of  Edward  VI.     It  is  of  fine  stone,  a  regular 
cross,  with  a  lady-chapel  added  to  the  west  side  of  the  south 
transept.     Since  the  twelfth  century  it  has  had  a  foundation  for 
a  warden  and  six  vicars,  who  still  reside.     The  service  was  going 
on,  and  I  heard  the  conclusion  of  an  evangelical  discourse  (to 
the  military)   from  Mr.   D'Arcy,  who  is  a  Galway  man.     He 
kindly  showed  me  over  the  house.     The  nave  is  walled  up,  and 
the   service  is  in  it   and  the  choir  and   south  transept.     Mr. 
D'Arcy  preached  again  (to  the  congregation  proper)  extempore, 
on  Rom.  v.  1,  a  right  Calvinistic  sermon  upon  justification  by 
faith^  and  imputed  righteousness.     I  never  heard  better  organ- 
playing.     It  was  almost  a  cathedral  service,  and  two  voices  in 
the  choir  were  transcendent.     I  had  not  gone  to  the  Presbyterian 
church,  having  heard  that  it  was  Arian ;  but  finding  I  had  been 
misinformed,  I  went  there  in  the  afternoon,  and  heard  a  young 
man  preach  to  twenty-five  hearers.     The  Protestants  are  increas- 
ing, and  are  about  one  in  twenty. 

Billingsgate  is  a  paradise  to  the  fish-market  of  Galway.  A 
chatter  rises  from  it  to  the  bridge  above,  which  is  unlike  all  I 
have  met  with.  Though  so  overcrowded  and  underclothed,  these 
Connaught  Irish  seem  peaceable.  During  the  famine  it  was 
indeed  otherwise.  As  I  looked  at  an  ass  with  panniers  of  bread, 
the  post-boy  said  "  a  year  or  two  ago  that  load  could  not  have 
gone  by  here  without  an  escort."  As  we  entered  the  walled 
hill-road,  which  leads  into  Galway,  we  met  cart  after  cart  for 


358  LETTERS   FEOM   EUKOPE. 

miles,  all  full,  having  more  women  than  men,  and  in  some  cases 
all  drunk.  We  met  gangs  of  the  same  sort  on  foot  in  the  road. 
The  post-boy  said  robberies  Avere  frequent  not  long  since  along 
here,  and  that  he  should  stop  in  Galway  all  night. 

An  optical  phenomenon  was  observed  by  Dr.  Maclean,  Mr. 
Mitchell,  and  me,  near  the  Queen's  College.  Persons  in  some 
numbers,  walking  on  a  quay,  or  river-promenade,  looked  so  much 
taller  through  a  scarcely  perceptible  mist,  that  we  all  agreed  the 
same  appearance  would,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  indicate  a 
stature  of  thirty  feet.     It  was  fearful. 

The  poor  people  are  all  emigrants  in  intention.  I  never 
talked  with  one  among  hundreds,  who  did  not  speak  of  America 
as  of  Paradise.  The  population  still  seems  to  an  American  eye 
immense.  The  priests  walk  among  them  like  a  superior  race, 
elegantly  dressed,  and  with  an  air  not  unlike  that  of  our  own 
clergy.  I  rejoice  to  add  there  is  a  M'ork  of  God  going  on  among 
these  lowest  of  European  Papists.  Last  month  in  Connemara 
alone,  1,900  Papists  were  "  confirmed  *'  under  church-missions. 
In  Mayo  there  is  persecution.  The  Rev.  Hamilton  Townsend 
was  thrice  shot  at  in  his  own  house.  After  all,  my  general  con- 
clusion is,  from  repeated  conversations  with  the  most  informed 
gentlemen,  that  a  better  day  is  coming.  The  very  famine  has 
tended  to  improve  agriculture ;  the  very  depopulation  also  has 
thrown  thousands  out  into  a  new  soil,  and  at  home  has  aggre- 
gated innumerable  ill-tilled  patches  barely  sustaining  life  into 
large  farms  or  sheep-walks  requiring  fewer  hands,  and  gradually 
filling  with  new  tenants.  But  this  involved  in  part  a  change  of 
race.  Nowhere  has  the  pure  Celtic  blood  been  energetic.  Un- 
like as  are  a  Highlander  and  a  Connaught  man,  they  are  as  to 
unthrift  and  idleness,  identical.  Large  numbers  of  English 
labourers  are  coming  into  Mayo.  In  the  east  of  Ireland  the 
mixture  of  Celtic  with  Anglo-Norman  blood  has  produced  the 
finest  physical  result  on  earth.  The  better  class  at  Dublin  and 
Limerick,  the  people  you  meet  in  carriages,  are  by  all  odds  the 
very  handsomest  people  I  ever  saw.  In  Galway  one  has  the 
population  of  a  city  with  the  squalor  and  brutality  of  a  hovel. 
I  dare  say  there  are  a  thousand  houses  in  the  town  without  a 
floor.  The  contrast  between  these  and  the  palaces  of  the  regi- 
ment, the  police,  and  the  priests,  tells  a  painful  tale.  I  dwell 
thus  on  Galway,  because  it  is  the  worst  place  I  have  been  in. 

Dublin,  September  23,  1851. 
Leaving  Galway,  we  came  directly  eastward  by  the  Midland 
Great   South-western   Railway,    127   miles   across    Ireland    to 
Dublin.     The  first  part  of  our  way  was  stony  like  the  road  from 


1851.  359 

Gort.  The  number  of  ruinous  cabins  was  great.  Castles  were 
numerous.  As  we  advanced  through  the  great  limestone  plain, 
the  country  constantly  improved  in  verdure,  houses,  and  crops. 
After  leaving  Cranmore  w^e  were  in  quite  a  plain.  We  were 
some  time  in  the  county  Eoscommon,  formerly  the  most  turbu- 
lent in  Connaught.  Athlone  is  an  imjDortant  central  point,  but 
its  glories  are  in  ruins.  Great  fortifications,  and  signs  of  military 
force.  The  British  government  pursues  a  policy  like  that  of  the 
Romans,  laying  out  vast  sums  on  public  works,  which  will  last 
for  ages  ;  these  show  Ireland  to  be  a  conquered  province.  Now, 
on  leaving  the  Shannon  again,  we  came  into  gentle  w^ooded 
regions,  which,  nearer  to  Dublin,  became  perfectly  English,  with 
lodges  and  trimmed  trees,  and  neater  cottages.  Great  numbers 
of  emigrants  were  in  the  trains,  and  we  saw  bitter  partings 
outside.  The  people  look  far  better  in  Leinster.  But  every- 
where, those  who  have  the  least  pretension  to  gentle  blood  are 
the  best-looking  people  I  ever  saw.  A  Spanish  gentleman  in 
the  train  told  me  he  would  have  taken  me  for  a  Spaniard  ;  ho 
and  I  looked  like  mulattoes  among  the  lily  and  rose  of  'Jerne. 
Mullingar  and  Maynooth  were  passed.  The  grounds  and  colleges 
of  Maynooth  are  stately,  with  an  old  castle  and  fine  trees.  Well- 
dressed,  important-looking  priests,  were  pacing,  with  the  never- 
absent  breviary,  on  the  green  banks  of  the  canal. 

All  over  the  island  Ulster  is  spoken  of  as  a  happy  model,  and 
even  in  the  mouths  of  the  priests  "  Ulster-tenure  "  is  a  common 
word  ;  it  amounts  almost  to  fee  simple. 

So  many  things  crowd  on  me,  that  I  am  utterly  unable  to 
say  what  I  wish  on  any  one.  As  to  the  government  policy — for 
some  years  I  am  fully  convinced  government  has  seriously  in- 
tended the  good  of  Ireland.  The  problem  has  been  almost 
insoluble.  It  was  perplexed  by  the  potato  rot,  fear,  dysentery, 
and  cholera.  If  Providence  had  not  opened  the  new  world,  the 
results  would  have  been  awfully  worse.  Mr.  D'Arcy  told  me, 
that  at  one  time  he  saw  130  putrefying  corpses  above  ground  in 
a  field  near  Galway.  The  power  of  the  government  has  been 
put  forth  to  an  extent  which  no  man  can  estimate  without  being 
here.  Let  me  hint  at  some  of  its  indications.  In  the  number- 
less towns  and  villages  through  which  we  passed,  the  majority 
of  houses  being  hog-pens,  and  the  people  like  beggars,  there 
were  always  three  or  four  noble  structures  of  the  finest  building- 
stone  in  the  world.  You  need  not  ask  what  these  were.  The 
largest  is  the  Poor  House  ;  the  next  is  the  jail ;  the  third  is  the 
regimental  barracks  ;  the  fourth  is  the  guard-house  of  the  Con- 
stabulary, who  are  in  great  strength,  wear  uniform,  are  fine 
picked  men,  always  from  a  distance,  and  armed.     Here  we  «ee 


360  LETTERS   FEOil   EUROPE. 

the  conquered  Province,  but  who  can  say  what  else  England 
could  have  done  1  Again,  government  has  lent  vast  sums  to  the 
railways  of  Ireland,  and  these  given  (not  to  flourishing  London- 
derry) but  to  Drogheda,  to  Enniskellen,  to  Cork,  to  Galway. 
They  are  fully  equal  to  the  best  English  roads.  The  station- 
houses,  as  a  whole,  are  superior  to  the  generality  in  England, 
being  such  as  will  abide  for  ages,  to  speak  for  England  as  the 
ruined  roads  and  aqueducts  do  for  Rome.  I  know  England  has 
sought  her  own  power  in  this,  but  she  has  no  less  served  the 
interests  of  Ireland  by  her  recent  policy.  Even  this  matter  of 
evictions  has  two  sides,  just  as  slavery  has  with  us.  The  Pres- 
byterians of  Ulster  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  government. 
Truth  is  no  doubt  hard  to.be  got  at  among  such  differences. 
That  the  tenant-tenure  and  the  absenteeism  have  wrought  iniqui- 
tously  and  murderously  no  sane  mind  ought  to  doubt.  Yet  on 
this  very  head  matters  tend  in  the  right  direction.  Under  the 
Encumbered  Estates  Act  (which  is  named  every  hour  in  Ireland) 
titles  can  be  made  good  to  purchasers.  The  beggared  nobles  of 
Ireland  are  selling  to  rich  merchants,  gentlemen,  &c.  In  the 
long  run  this  helps  the  populace,  notwithstanding  proximate 
evils.  Just  as  you  know  how  much  more  miserable  are  the 
slaves  of  a  poor  planter,  or  a  bankrupt.  Emigration  (blessed 
be  God  !)  has  allowed  hundreds  of  thousands  to  go  to  a  country, 
where  they  may  be  happy.  The  priests  have  had  their  day. 
They  are  phrensied  just  now,  under  the  Ecclesiastical  Titles'  Bill, 
and  the  ultramontane  zeal  of  Dr.  Cullen.  But  my  belief  is  their 
time  is  short. 

Oxford,  September  27,  1851. 
Leaving  Liverpool  day  before  yesterday,  the  train  came  by 
the  beautiful  Trent  valley  again,  and  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Lich- 
field Cathedral  and  Lord  Lichfield's  park.  The  first  few  stages  I 
was  alone  in  my  carriage.  From  Blatehley  to  Oxford  my  com- 
panion was  the  Hon.  • ,  son  of  Lord  S.,  going  to  Eton.     He 

was  constantly  opening  his  hat-box,  which  contained  a  pair  of 
trousers,  and  his  carpet-bag,  which  was  swollen  so  as  to  be  tied 
with  twine.  He  was  very  oflish  and  affected,  till  the  sky  was 
covered  by  a  rainbow  of  uncommon  beauty,  and  then  he  was  so 
carried  away,  and  so  lighted  up,  that  he  lost  all  sense  of  his  rank, 
and  submitted  to  be  taught  the  word  vibgyor.^  Islj  gentleman 
had  risen  very  early  to  take  the  train,  and,  I  fear  me,  had  not 
washed  his  hands ;  and  his  beautiful  hair  streamed  in  the  wind 
like  elf-locks.     At  Oxford  he  furnish  ed  himself  with  a  Benjamin's 

'  The  mnemonic  initials  for  the  primitive  colours. 


1851.  361 

portion  of  tarts  and  cakes,  which  he  attended  to  while  I  dined, 
keeping  his  hat  on ;  (boys  here  all  wear  hats.) 

The  Oxfordshire  peasantry  talk  more  like  New  Englanders 
than  any  I  hear,  but  not  in  regard  to  their  Us.  My  guide 
might  pass  for  a  Massachusetts  man,  in  his  very  intonation, 
were  it  not  for  the  pains  he  takes  with  his  "  aches."  He  industri- 
ously says  "  hentrance,"  "  Hoxford,"  "  Hariel  College,"  "  hinner 
closiiters."  I  employed  a  guide,  and  visited  the  exterior  and 
grounds  of  Christ  Church,  Magdalen,  University,  Balliol,  Merton, 
Exeter,  Queen's,  Ne^^,  Lincoln,  All  Souls,  Jesus  and  Pembroke 
Colleges,  and  Magdalen  Hall.  Happily  the  verdure  is  as  yet  un- 
touched. I  rejoice  in  these  genuine  old  English  streets  and  yellow 
house-fronts,  gables,  square  casements,  oriels  and  projecting  stories. 
They  first  won  my  affection  at  Eton.  I  foresaw  that  Oxford 
would  take  all  the  colour  out  of  every  thing  else ;  because  I  knew 
there  was  nothing  like  it  on  earth.  I  should  like  to  be  here  again 
in  term-time,  yet  I  would  not  miss  the  solitude,  silence,  and  me- 
morial ghastliness  of  such  haunts  as  New  College  Garden,  Christ 
Church  ^Meadow,  Maudlin  Walk,  Quadrangle  of  Jesus  College, 
place  of  the  martyrs,  &c.  King's  at  Cambridge  greatly  surpasses 
any  one  thing  here  taken  singly,  and  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
is  fully  equal  to  any  one  structure  here ;  but  all  Oxford  is  im- 
mensely above  all  Cambridge.  Things  which  strike  me : — Christ 
Church  ^leadow,  walks,  and  trees.  The  avenue  is  nowhere  so 
perfect  as  that  of  Trin.  Coll.,  Cambridge,  but  is  vaster,  wilder, 
and  if  not  so  pensive,  more  captivating.  The  sunset  meanwhile 
was  American.  The  tower  of  Maudlin,  from  wdiich  Dr.  Phil- 
lips's church  [Fifth  Avenue,  New  York]  is  derived,  as  the  Lenox 
Hall,  [Princeton  Seminary  Library,]  from  Magdalen  chapel. 
The  walks  of  Magdalen,  especially  Addison's  walk.  New 
College,  antique  and  massy  ;  its  gardens  and  trees  sans  ^j)«?-e«7. 
Deer  were  at  the  very  doors  in  Mag.  College  Park.  The  Bod- 
leian. The  Clarendon.  The  Theatre.  The  Radcliffe  Library. 
"  Manners  makyth  Man,"  over  the  gate  of  New  College.  Jesus 
College,  only  for  Welshmen  ;  its  physiognomy  like  its  namesake 
at  Cambridge.  The  reading  of  my  childhood  was  strangely  and 
eagerly  about  the  Universities,  and  it  left  deeper  traces  than  I 
knew  of  before.  These  English  boys  have  some  peculiar  and 
winning  points.  Being  sent  so  early  from  home  they  gain  a 
certain  manliness.  They  abound  in  a  slang  idiom,  which  would 
be  almost  unintelligible  in  America. 


o 

Liverpool,  September  30,  1851. 
^    jmn    to   Livprn 


From  Birmingham  to  Liverpool  is  five  hours.     There  was 
much   to   please,  in   the   winding  of  little  rivers,  the  verdant 
VOL.  II. — 16 


362  LETTEES   FEOM   EUEOPE. 

pastures,  the  universal  hedges  and  planted  trees  trimmed  in  an  odd 
slender  way  ;  the  fine  cattle,  the  thatched  cottages,  with  roses  ; 
the  hayricks  as  trim  and  smooth  as  vases ;  the  rosy  children ; 
the  winding  country  roads  and  lanes  ;  the  peeping  spires,  and 
mighty  substructions,  viaducts,  and  tunnels  of  the  Great  North 
Western  Railway. 

On  the  Sabbath  I  proceeded  to  make  a  new  trial  to  hear 
Dr.  ]\IcNeile.  His  beautiful  new  church  is  in  the  country  sub- 
urbs, for  from  houses,  among  gardens  and  villas,  with  abundance 
of  well-kept  ground  about  it.  The  congregation  was  very  large, 
many  being  strangers,  whom  the  gowned  vergers  led  up.  The 
assembly  looked  plebeian,  but  devout.  The  organ  was  simply 
played ;  no  interludes,  no  intoning,  no  musical  Kyrie  Eleison, 
only  the  Gloria  was  so  given.  The  people  all  bowed  at  the 
name,  but  McN.  not  perceptibly,  if  at  all.  The  hymns  were  of 
Bickersteth's  collection  ;  a  hymn  opened  the  service  and  all  the 
people  sang  loud  and  well.  Dr.  M.  read  the  lessons  well,  but 
rhetoricallv.  He  has  two  voices,  and  his  baritone  voice  is  incom- 
para1)ly  rich,  but  he  makes  too  much  of  it,  barely  shunning  the 
theatrical.  He  is  tall  and  thin  for  this  country,  florid,  with 
noble  aquiline  face,  and  hair  very  gray.  He  prayed  extempore, 
both  before  and  after  sermon.  He  preached  in  the  gown.  The 
text  was  Matt.  xi.  25,  26.  He  preached  without  manuscript, 
holdinsf  a  small  Bible  in  his  hand  throuo-hout.  His  oratorio  art 
was  seldom  apparent  in  preaching.  His  manner  is  the  elevated 
colloquial.  His  discourse  was  clearly  unstudied,  but  clearly  un- 
written. There  was  no  hesitation,  nor  any  infelicity  of  expression, 
while  he  went  often  to  the  very  edge  of  familiarity.  He  had  no 
occasion  for  the  pathetic,  but  was  awfully  solemn  in  places.  His 
plan  is  evidently  to  be  a  teacher.  He  opened  most  flimiliarly 
from  ver.  26,  "  Thou  hast  hid  these  things  : — what  things  ?  "  His 
introduction  was  an  answer  to  that  from  a  perfectly  plain,  natural, 
simple,  concise,  but  elegant  exposition  of  ver.  16 — 24.  He  spent 
about  half  the  body  of  the  discourse  in  showing  that  some  things 
were  not  hid  from  "  the  wise  and  prudent."  He  exalted  the  man 
of  worldly  wisdom,  quoting  largely  from  Sir  John  Herschel,  and 
reading  from  two  bits  of  paper,  which  he  held  up  just  as  if  at  his 
fireside.  He  showed  how  much  the  great  philosopher  may  learn 
of  God.  Here  he  horrified  me  by  a  most  pernicious  doctrine, 
viz.,  that  God's  benevolence  cannot  be  inferred  from  creation  and 
providence.  I  could  scarcely  keep  quiet  in  my  pew.  He  was 
clear  and  able  on  the  incapacity  of  a  carnal  mind  to  see  the 
spiritual  objects.  I  have  seldom  heard  this  great  but  ticklish 
point  more  cleverly  touched.  Illustrations  from  the  senses. 
Inter  alia-  "  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  spiritual  light  tliat  it  carries 


1851.  363 

its  own  evidence  with  it.  At  this  instant  you  perceive  in  this 
house  a  great  variety  of  colours.  (At  the  moment  the  sun  was 
breaking  in  very  radiant,  and  even  shining  on  half  his  face.) 
You  need  no  jDroof  that  the  objects  have  these  hues.  You  pos- 
sess the  senses  for  it.  The  light  that  appeals  to  these  senses  is 
self-revealing.  Now  suppose  a  blind  man  among  you  should  say, 
'  there  are  no  such  colours — there  is  no  such  beauty — the  per- 
ceptions of  these  people  are  delusive  and  their  admiration  is 
enthusiastic  folly  ' — would  this  disturb  your  persuasions  ?  Not 
for  an  instant.  But  many  of  you  lack  another  sense.  You  see 
no  excellence  in  the  Gospel ;  you  discredit  the  witness  of  those 
who  do.  Why  are  some  born  with  four  senses  instead  of 
five  1  born  blind  ?  (then  with  scarcely  audible  tones  and  a  man- 
ner of  unparalleled  abasement)  ^  even  so  Father,  for  soil  seemed 
good  in  thy  sight  !^  And  why  are  some  born  again  with  six 
senses  instead  of  five  1  new  born  ?  (then  with  the  same  pause 
and  eloquent  subduiug  of  tone,)  '  Even  so  Father,  &c.'  "  This 
was  his  transition  to  the  second  part,  which  was  to  refer  all  to 
Divine  sovereignty.  He  was  thorough-paced  in  his  Calvinism, 
and  ended  most  abruptly  with  one  of'the  very  boldest  demands 
on  every  hearer  to  bow  and  become  a  babe  and  believe  it. 

I  regard  McNeile  as  a  prince  among  extempore  preachers. 
He  escapes  several  evils  to  which  such  are  very  prone.     He  is 
very  dense  ;  he  says  what  he  means,  and  goes  on ;  yet  he  lodges 
his  meaniug  completely,  by  a  happy  choice  of  words  and  by 
avoiding  poetic  terms,  technical  phraseology,  and  language  un- 
usual   among   common   people.     Though  "singularly  happy   in 
illustration,  he   is   very    sparing   with   it.     The   staple   of"  his 
discourse  was  exegesis,  and  argument  on  the  exegesis.     I  have 
said  his  voice  is  perfect.     He  never  employs  effort,  or  Ijreaks 
into  spouting  tones.     When  most  effective,  he  is  most  colloquial 
and   least   loud.     At   the  warmer   and   more  rapid  places  his 
native  Irish  broke  forth  most  distinctly,  never  in  pronunciation, 
which  is  classically   English,  but  in  the  accent  and  cadences. 
As  compared  with  Dr.  Cook  I  note  as  follows :     Cook  is  past  his 
prime,  being  perhaps  6.5 — 68.     Cook  has  a  trifle  of  conventional 
pulpit  tone,  and  becomes  a  declaimcr,  so  far  as  management  of 
voice  goes.     Cook's  sermon  [p.  158]  was  much  more  articulate, 
and  built  up  Presbyterian-wise.     Cook  plays  the  orator  morej 
and  soars  into  imaginative  pictures  and  showers  of  similitude. 
I  apprehend  nine  out  of  ten  would  give  the  palm  to  Cook.     I 
am  not  sure  but  that  I  also  should  do  so,  when  I  get  over  the 
immediate  impression  of   McNeile,  as  the   last   heard.     Cook 
preached  69  minutes  ;   McN.  50.     They  are  by  a  long  way  the 
most  eloquent  men  I  have  heard  in  these  dimates.     Up  to  a 


364:  LETTERS   FKOM   EUROPE. 

certain  point  I  thought  Dr.  King  such.  He  is  indeed  a  great 
preacher.  But  he  has  one  set  of  faults  inseparable  from  a 
Scotchman,  and  another  set  inseparable  from  a  memoriter 
preacher.  He  cantillates,  and  more  and  more  as  he  gets  on ; 
never  uttering  one  sentence  as  he  would  at  his  table.  He  ^Yrithes, 
and  brings  his  right  arm  around,  as  if  he  were  reaping.  He 
makes  you  sympadiize  with  his  pulpit  sweats.  Then  his  whole 
sermon,  thouoh  learned,  ingenious,  and  richly  original,  smells  of 
the  lamp.  There  is  an  artful  reserve  of  pungency  for  the  last 
part  of  the  sentence,  which  is  often  antithetical.  This  surprises 
and  gratifies,  but  it  hinders  the  great  effect,  and  is  a  mannerism. 
Few  can  attain  it,  but  those  who  do  fall  below  the  highest  style. 
Dr.  King  abounds,  even  in  prayers,  in  a  cunning  citation  of 
texts  so  apt  and  so  curiously  tesselated,  that  it  has  almost  the 
effect  of  wit ;  it  is  an  outgrowth  of  Seceder  textual  preaching, 
as  cultivated  in  a  soil  of  elegant  literature.  Yet  it  sins  against 
nature,  and  so  against  eloquence. 

The  best  s^^ealcers  I  have  heard,  are  Coquerel  and  Adolphe 
]\Ionod.  In  no  single  word,  gesture,  or  tone,  do  they  ever 
transcend  nature.  I  think  McNeile  sometimes  does  in  regard 
to  that  deep  organ-note  which  he  cannot  help  using  out  of  place. 
If  I  could  hear  Monod  in  a  regular  sermon,  I  should,  perhaps, 
regard  him  as  the  nearest  pulpit  perfection.  At  present  it  lies 
between  Cook  and  McNeile ;  and  as  to  matter,  the  praise  is 
greatly  on  the  side  of  Cook. 

I  would  not  think  of  naming  Dr.  H.  among  "  the  first  three," 
yet  he  is  a  great  man  in  his  way.  In  spite  of  his  pronunciation 
and  tone,  he  is  an  eloquent  preacher.  His  flowers  deceive  and 
betray  him,  but  he  has  more  than  flowers ;  he  has  argument, 
original  thoughts,  and  a  pathos  which  redeems  his  metaphors  and 
apologues.  A  few  years  hence  he  will  probably  be  a  far  greater 
preacher  than  he  now  is. 

Next  to  all  these  above  named  I  place  Mr.  Seholefield  of 
Cambridge ;  but  he  is  as  simple  as  a  child,  and  as  plain  as  a 
farmer,  and  not  an  orator  at  all. 

Steamship  "Atlantic,"  October  1 — 15.  1851. 
October  3. — We  loosed  from  moorings  at  1  15,  P.  M.,  on 
Wednesday  the  1st  inst.  At  eleven  on  Thursday  night  the 
piston  rod  broke,  and  after  stopping  an  hour  we  got  under  way 
with  one  engine.  The  repairs  will  require  immense  labour,  and 
many  of  the  passengers  wished  to  return  to  Liverpool,  or  put 
into  Cork.  It  is  a  mercy  that  the  wind  is  not  as  high  as  it  was, 
though  the  sea  runs  fearfully  high.  I  occasionally  hear  a  sea 
shipped  over  my  head,  running  off  the  fore-deck  like  a  river. 


1851.  365 

October  7. — For  several  days  and  nights  it  has  been  impos- 
sible to  write.  Indeed  the  place  where  I  now  sit  has  been  filled 
with  water  during  part  of  the  time.  We  have  now  been  six 
days  going  in  the  teeth  of  a  gale,  which,  during  many  hours  of 
Thursday,  and  especially  that  night,  was  a  dreadful  storm.  It 
is  a  mercy  to  be  remembered  that  our  piston  was  repaired  before 
the  worst  came  ;  for  with  one  engine  we  could  not  have  kept  our 
head  to  the  wind,  and  so  should  have  gone  into  the  trough  of 
the  sea  and  been  submerged.  As  it  was,  the  irruption  of  waters 
was  fearful.  The  seas  which  followed  us  were  as  high  as  the 
pipes.  The  forepart  plunged  into  mountains  of  water,  which 
swept  the  decks,  floating  the  water-casks  and  making  it  deep 
enough  to  swim.  It  broke  through  four  bulwarks  or  break- 
waters, one  of  which  was  four  inches  thick.  The  sound  of  the 
labouring,  creaking,  smashing  seams  was  like  going  to  pieces 
every  moment.  The  seas  shipped  forward  came  down  the  hatch- 
way, breaking  the  thick  glass,  and  making  it  knee-deep  in  some 
state-rooms  in  an  instant.  Our  own  was  floatino-.  Iliofh  as  is 
the  stern  of  the  "  Atlantic,"  the  sea  broke  over  the  hurricane 
deck,  and  came  through  the  dining  saloon,  and  into  the  main 
saloon  below.  The  thumps  upon  our  counter  were  like  tons  of 
metal  falling  from  a  height.  This  lasted  for  part  of  a  day  and 
night,  and  even  when  it  remitted  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  we 
were  still  in  a  terrible  gale.  Anxiety  was  increased  by  a  man's 
falling  from  the  mast.  We  made  onlv  four  or  five  miles  an 
hour  most  of  the  time.  During  these  awful  hours  every  eye 
was  turned  towards  Capt.  West.  His  tall,  noble  form  appeared 
everywhere,  but  for  whole  nights  he  was  drenched.  In  the  terror 
of  that  memorable  night  I  believe  many  of  us  thought  we  should 
never  get  to  land.  It  was  too  violent  and  noisy  for  prayer  in 
common.  Bishop  Otey^  and  I  prayed  in  his  state-room,  together 
with  my  room-mate,  (Capt.  Cullum,)  who  was  wrecked  in  the 
Atlantic,  when  Dr.  Armstrong  was  drowned,  [page  59.]  We 
talked  the  matter  over  during  the  height  of  our  tempest.  Per- 
haps those  suffered  least  who  were  deadly  sick,  as  scores  were. 

On  the  5th,  the  Lord's  Day,  it  was  so  far  abated  that  I  read 
the  107th  Psalm,  and  prayed  in  the  dining  saloon.  Soon  after- 
ward it  abated  further,  and  we  had  quite  a  passable  night. 
Yesterday  it  was  very  rough  again,  but  not  so  horrible.  About 
midnight  the  wind  and  sea  were  comparatively  quiet.  "  O  that 
men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonder 
ful  works  to  the  children  of  men  !  " 

October  8. — At  noon  we  had  an  observation,  and  found  by 

^  Of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Tennessee. 


366  LETTERS   FROM   ETJEOPE. 

dead  reckoning,  that  we  were  1,212  miles  from  Liverpool. 
Yesterday,  during  a  blow  a  white  bird  alighted  on  our  vessel, 
and  was  caught  by  the  cabin-boy.  It  must  have  been  driven  out 
six  hundred  miles  from  the  Summer  Isles. 

SONNET, 

WRITTEN   ON   THE   STEAMER  ATLANTIC, 
October  4,  1851. 

Tossed  like  an  egg-shell  on  the  heaving  main, 

Our  ship,  that  looked  a  giant  at  the  quay, 

Shivers  and  groans  a  frighted  babe  on  sea, 

As  the  wind  roughens  all  the  watery  plain  ; 

Till  oak  and  iron  own  the  wrenching  strain. 

So  weak  is  man's  work  in  the  mighty  hand 

Of  him  who  gives  the  howling  surge  command, 

To  lift  the  wrestling  waves  that  foam  with  pain. 

But  yet  the  force  which  drives  the  wreck  to  land. 

Or  whelms  whole  squadrons  near  some  treach'rous  strand, 

Or  forks  the  lightning  in  the  helmsman's  face, 

Or  shoots  the  waterspout  in  column  grand. 

When  gulfs.lay  bare  the  deep  uncovered  sand. 

Is  power  all  wedded  to  triumphal  grace. 

October  10. — We  approached  the  banks  of  Newfoundland, 
but  the  wind  is  stiff  ahead,  and  it  rains  almost  all  day.  Great 
gloom  prevails  in  the  company.  Some  are  not  yet  come  forth 
of  their  chambers.  Some  are  lying  about  in  the  cabins,  both 
day  and  night,  wretched  with  a  sickness  which  has  no  parallel. 
In  the  upper  dining-cabin,  on  the  quarter-deck,  much  of  the  day 
is  occupied  with  meals  ;  breakfast  from  8  to  1 1  ;  luncheon  at 
noon  ;  dinner  at  4  ;  tea  at  8,  and  supper  at  10.  Towards  even- 
ing the  rain  abates,  and  at  9  the  full  moon  shines  beautiful  over 
the  whitening  sea.  For  the  first  time,  in  this  gloomy  voyage, 
the  young  folks  gather  in  the  dining-saloon  for  games  and  merri- 
ment. Every  morning  Bishop  Otey  and  I  have  prayers  in  his 
state-room. 

October  11. — We  are  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.  We 
had  tremendous  heavings,  and  one  sudden  pitch,  which  many 
thought  greater  than  any  during  the  gale.  It  threw  down  a 
sailor  into  the  forecastle  companion,  and  greatly  injured  him. 
Towards  night  a  dead  whale  hove  in  sight,  escorted  by  porpoises 
and  birds.  Grampuses  are  seen  to  spout,  and  sea-birds  become 
numerous. 

October  12. — Lord's  day.  Divine  service  in  dhiing  saloon  at 
10^.  Bishop  Otey  preached.  The  attendance  was  very  good. 
After  tea  I  preached  in  the  same  room  on  the  prayer  of  the 
publican.  The  saloon  was  entirely  filled,  and  the  company  was 
attentive. 


1857.  367 

October  13. — Fog.  We  blow  the  steam-whistles  now  and 
then,  to  give  warning  to  poor  fishing-vessels,  which  might  be 
overthrown  by  onr  tremendous  weight  of  2,900  tons  going'fifteen 
miles  an  hour.  We  passed  not  a  great  way  from  Halifax.  The 
bad  weather,  by  preventing  ventilation,  has  made  many  of  the 
state-rooms  quite  offensive,  so  that  when  you  pass  by  the  doors 
you  sniff  a  variety  of  odours,  like  the  wards  of  a  lazaretto.  These 
ships  are  spoiled  by  the  addition  of  new  berths  fdling  up  what 
used  to  be  the  fine  open  space  of  the  forward  cabin.  Not  only 
are  these  state-rooms  all  along  the  sides  of  the  vessel,  but  a 
compact  village  of  rooms  fills  the  interior,  leaving  only  some 
insignificant  areas,  where  the  stairs  and  skylights  are,  and  some 
narrow  entries.  These  rooms  are  close  and  dark,  and  here  the 
rush  of  waters  was  greatest  during  the  gale.  The  gay  fellows 
have  names  for  several  parts,  such  as  Cavendish  Square,  Pall 
Mall,  and  Rotten  Row. 

October  14. — Shortly  after  breakfast  it  became  evident  that 
there  was  some  cause  of  alarm.  Presently  we  began  to  perceive 
breakers  on  our  starboard  bow.  How  beautiful  are  these  deadly 
enemies  !  It  becomes  apparent  that  we  have  missed  our  reckon- 
ing, and  have  run  too  near  Nantucket  shoals.  The  engine  stops, 
and  steam  is  let  off.  It  is  hard  to  think  of  peril  under  this  clear 
sun  and  amidst  this  beautifid  blue  sea,  and  from  those  snowy 
surges  that  dash  up  and  twinkle  in  the  sun.  We  heave  the 
lead  twice,  and  find  about  24  flithoms. 

October  15. — The  wooded,  flat  shores  of  Long  Island  are  in 
view.  We  soon  pass  the  Narrows.  It  is  an  incomparable  morn- 
ing, making  one  think  meanly  of  European  skies.  Sun  and 
moon  are  both  visible.  The  grand  bay  Mith  islands  and  shipping 
is  in  sight.  We  come  to  at  the  foot  of  Canal  street,  about  6  30 
A.  M. 


N'o.  3. 

SUPPLEMENT  TO  THE  EUROPEAN  LETTERS  OF  ISSY.' 

Liverpool,  October  9,  1857. 
You  will  have  learned  from  other  sources,  that  the  7th  of 
October  was  observed  throughout  the  British  Isles  as  a  day  of 
Humiliation  and  Prayer,  in  regard  to  the  present  Indian  calami- 
ties. There  is  good  cause  to  think  that  it  has  been  a  day  of 
spiritual  good  to  many  thousands.  The  daily  newspapers  of 
yesterday  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other,  are  filled  with 

^  This  is  taken  from  Dr.  Alexander's  correspondence  with  "  The  Pres- 
byterian." 


368  LETTERS   FROM   EUROPE. 

reports  of  the  sermons  prGached  ;  and  from  these,  it  is  plain 
that  the  talents  and  piety  of  the  best  men  were  employed  in  this 
^york.  In  Glasgow,  where  I  was  at  the  time,  the  shops  were 
closed,  and  there  was  no  appearance  of  business  in  any  one  of 
the  numerous  streets  through  which  I  walked  or  drove.  In  some 
churches,  the  services  were  of  a  freer  character,  familiar  to  us  in 
America,  and  prayers  were  offered  alternately  with  addresses. 
This  is  true  of  the  United  Presbyterian  church  in  Wellin2;ton 
Street,  of  which  the  excellent  Dr.  Robinson  is  the  pastor.  He 
was  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Archer  of  London,  and  from  both 
we  heard  faithful  and  memorable  exhortations,  addressed  to  a 
very  large  assembly  of  solemn  and  sometimes  deeply  affected 
worshippers.  I  accepted  it  as  a  token  of  confidence  in  American 
sympathy  and  Christian  love,  that  these  good  men  and  esteemed 
brethren  forced  me  into  the  service,  Mhich  as  a  foreigner  I 
scarcely  knew  how  to  undertake,  especially  after  twenty  weeks 
of  silence,  but  which  they  were  pleased  to  recognize  as  a  tribute 
of  unfeigned  regard  for  the  testimony  which  we  uphold  in  com- 
mon. On  that,  as  on  other  occasions,  my  soul  was  melted  within 
me  at  the  thought  of  these  beloved  missionaries  of  our  own  and 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  who,  I  fear,  have  fallen  asleep 
amidst  the  assaults  of  the  murderous  Sepoys.  After  the  service 
of  two  hours,  I  saw  the  adjacent  lecture-room,  where  the  late 
venerable  Dr.  Mitchell,  pastor  of  this  church,  for  more  than  half 
a  century,  used  to  instruct  the  theological  students  of  the  Seces- 
sion Church.  His  portrait  and  those  of  two  ruling  elders  adorn 
the  walls.  According  to  my  best  recollection  the  communion 
numbers  about  thirteen  hundred. 

Not  to  confine  myself  to  a  particular  body,  I  went  in  the 
afternoon  to  the  Barony  Church,  belonging  to  the  Establish- 
ment, in  order  to  hear  the  Rev.  Norman  McLeod,  who  is  at 
this  time  second  to  no  j^reacher  in  Scotland,  for  what  may  be 
called  a  catholic  popularity.  Accustomed  as  we  are  in  America 
to  consider  the  Establishment  and  Moderatism  to  be  much  the 
same,  we  ought  to  rejoice  and  be  thankful  for  the  tidings  that 
there  are  not  a  few  ministers  in  that  body  who  preach  Christ, 
with  a  fidness,  fervour,  and  spiritual  unction,  which  no  denomi- 
nation can  surpass,  and  which  would  have  been  stigmatized  a 
century  ago  as  ranting  Methodism.  On  this  occasion  I  heard 
only  the  second  of  two  discourses,  which  was  on  Lam.  v.  16, 
"  The  crown  is  fallen  from  our  head ;  woe  unto  us,  that  we  have 
sinned."  Other  topics  had  occupied  the  forenoon  ;  he  was  now 
upon  the  sins  to  be  bewailed,  and  the  ho23es  to  be  cherished. 
Mr.  McLeod  has  every  advantage  of  external  gifts,  in  stature, 
face,  carriage,  and  gesture  ;  and  in  regard  to  voice,  I  have  never 


185T.  369 

heard  any  more  flexible,  rich,  and  controlling  ;  I  cannot  suppose 
that  in  popular  address  our  Dr.  Mason  was  either  more  strong 
or  more  pathetic  than  Norman  McLeod.  I  had  not  heard  him 
utter  Uyo  sentences  of  devotion,  before  I  ceased  to  wonder  why 
crowds  attend  upon  his  ministry,  while  I  less  than  ever  was 
tempted  to  crave  any  liturgical  crutches  in  the  way  of  printed 
prayer.  Let  men  pray  thus,  and  we  shall  hear  of  no  deviation 
from  the  way  of  our  fathers  ;  and  with  a  rubrical  imposition  of 
forms  men  cannot  thus  pray.  I  have  no  quarrel  with  "  our 
excellent  liturgy  ; "  I  have  gratefully  joined  in  its  best  parts 
almost  every  Sabbath  for  months ;  I  believe  it  to  be  the  best 
compilation  from  the  Latin  offices  that  has  ever  been  made, 
nevertheless  I  hold  on  in  our  primitive  and  more  excellent  way, 
and  should  be  pleased  to  read  an  answer  to  famous  John  Owen's 
tractate  on  Tree  Prayer.  Apropos  of  this  matter,  I  have  heard 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  ministers  in  Scotland,  eminent  alike 
for  the  gift  and  the  grace  of  praying,  interlard  his  devotions  with 
passages  from  the  prayer-book.  I  cannot  but  make  reclamation 
against  this,  on  grounds  of  unity  and  sacred  composition.  Those 
collects,  which  1  had  often  joined  in  with  reverential  admiration, 
seemed  out  of  tune  amidst  the  inspired  breathings  of  David  and 
Jeremiah,  which  were  legitimately  and  beautifully  introduced  at 
the  same  time.  I  could  not  help  wondering  at  the  gifted  utter- 
ances of  the  very  minister  to  whom  I  here  allude,  and  who  is 
known  in  more  lands  than  one. 

But  to  return,  Mr.  McLeod's  sermon  was  a  noble  piece  of 
free  argumentation  and  passionate  eloquence.  He  spoke  like  a 
senator  on  this  occasion,  and  you  may  judge  in  how  untram- 
melled a  manner,  when  I  add  that  he  read  from  several  volumes, 
and  even  from  Tuesday's  Tiines.  The  secret  of  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  this  preaching  is,  that  his  heart  is  bursting  with  the 
very  emotion  which  he  seeks  to  cause.  I  need  scarcely  add 
that  he  used  no  manuscript ;  sometimes  he  does  so ;  but  this 
was  one  of  the  discourses  which  cannot  be  written.  There  were 
several  generous  allusions  to  our  own  country  in  this  delightful 
sermon,  which  gratified  me  all  the  more  as  contrasted  with  the 
crude,  ignorant,  and  fiery  attacks  of  many,  on  what  they  think 
American  toleration  of  sin.  Mr.  ^McLeod's  vindication  of  Mis- 
sions, his  plea  for  national  m^rcy,  and  his  retorts  upon  the  infidel 
party,  were  triumphant.  But  most  of  the  time  I  was  too  near 
breaking  out  into  tears  to  sit  as  a  critic.  When,  on  another 
occasion,  I  heard  Mr.  McLeod  preach  on  a  Sabbath  afternoon, 
I  was  really  lifted  up  to  consider  that  God  had  still  a  testimony, 
in  a  large  school  of  the  younger  churchmen,  for  the  most  evan- 
gelical doctrines  and  experience.     This,  however,  need  not  be  said 


3Y0  LETTERS   FROM   ETTEOPE. 

to  any  one  who  has  read  the  "  Earnest  Student,"  which  is  his 
work,  or  the  "  Footsteps  of  St.  Paul,"  by  another  minister  of 
the  Kirk,  in  Glasgow. 

It  would  be  very  presumptuous  in  a  passing  stranger  to  pro- 
nounce upon  the  ministry  of  a  great  people,  or  to  characterize 
their  pulpit.  He  can  at  best  hear  only  a  few,  and  these  may 
not  be  the  representative  minds  ;  I  shall,  therefore,  indulge  in  no 
sweeping  remarks,  but  content  myself  with  saying,  that  so  far  as 
I  can  learn,  there  is  no  country  on  the  globe,  which  is  better 
furnished,  in  its  rank  and  file,  with  a  thoroughly  orthodox  and 
earnestly  evangelical  ministry  than  Scotland.  How  entirely  ex- 
ceptional all  but  the  Presbyterian  element  is,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact,  that  in  Glasgow  alone  there  are  more  than  a  hundred 
Presbyterian  ministers.  I  am  not  very  far  astray,  when  I  say 
that  of  these  the  Established  Church  has  thirty-four,  the  Eree 
Church  thirty-three,  and  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  thirty- 
one.  On  the  National  Fast,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  all  these,  and 
many  others,  were  engaged  in  leading  the  minds  of  their  hearers 
to  2:)enitent  reflections  suited  to  the  present  crisis.  In  a  word, 
the  national  mind  has  been  thoroughly  waked  up  to  the  religious 
aspects  of  this  portentous  theme.  One  mighty  dictator  of  British 
opinion,  the  Times^  though  sometimes  admitting  letter-writers 
who  take  the  other  side,  nobly  vindicates  Christianity  and 
Missions  from  the  charge  of  having  provoked  these  hostilities. 
It  is  honourable  to  the  British  people,  that  everywhere  the  most 
candid  confession  of  national  sin  is  fairly  uttered.  The  opium 
business  has  especially  come  in  for  its  share.  I  acknowledge  that 
our  British  brethren,  who  often  say  hard  things  of  our  govern- 
ment, are  just  as  ready  to  say  hard  things  of  their  own.  This 
is  a  land  where  free  speech  and  a  free  press  are  high  in  influence ; 
nowhere  more  so.  I  felt  the  fellowship  of  the  old  Presbyterian 
temper,  when  I  heard  a  pastor  from  his  pulpit  protest  against 
the  terms  in  which  the  Queen  commanded  the  Fast  to  be  ob- 
served ;  a  protestation  which  the  venerable  Dr.  John  Brown 
also  made  very  prominent  in  his  discourse  in  Edinburgh. 

As  I  sat  in  the  gallery  last  Sabbath,  when  !Mr.  McLeod  re- 
ferred to  a  passage  by  chapter  and  verse,  a  thousand  pocket 
Bibles  instantly  turned  up  the  place ;  it  is  so  everywhere  in 
Scotland.  The  practice  of  using  ti  reverent  posture  in  prayer 
is  universal  here ;  and  I  have  never  found  myself  the  only 
person,  besides  the  minister,  who  was  standing,  as  has  often 
happened  to  me  among  the  indolent  worshippers  of  England  and 
America.  The  Presbyterians  of  this  country,  that  is  to  say,  the 
great  body  of  the  population,  love  the  house  of  God,  and  are 
attached  to  their  own  particular  forms.     Churches  are  built  for 


1857.  371 

use,  and  in  most  cases  are  very  closely  seated,  so  as  to  be  full 
even  to  packing.  I  was  delighted  to  observe  that  on  an  evening 
when  I  heard  a  Glasgow  clergyman  preach,  the  house,  which  had 
aisles  and  even  pulpit-stairs  crowded,  was  occupied  largely  by 
those  classes  of  hearers  who  in  some  of  our  cities  have  so  mucli 
left  us  for  other  denominations,  or  for  none  at  all. 

If  my  experience  is  worth  any  thing,  there  is  not  a  more 
hospitable  land  than  this ;  people  talk  of  Highland  welcomes, 
but  you  are  met  thus  to  Gretna  and  the  very  Tweed.  A  minister 
in  Rosshire,  whom  I  never  saw,  gave  me  a  warm  and  cordial 
invitation  to  tabernacle  with  his  family  all  summer,  beside  his 
lochs ;  and  no  doubt  would  have  given  us  Gaelic  treats  of  salmon 
and  grouse.  What  Emerson  says,  concerning  England,  of  "  fall 
dress  and  dinner  at  six,"  as  a  national  influence,  is  just  as  true 
of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  ;  and  I  question  whether  what  Mrs. 
Hannah  More  said  v/as  already  going  out  in  London,  to  wit,  con- 
versation, is  anywhere  more  nobly  upheld  than  in  the  better 
circles  of  the  cities.  Some  of  the  most  instructive  and  enter- 
taining— let  me  even  add,  edifying  lessons  I  ever  received,  have 
been  in  such  circles,  as  well  six  years  ago  as  now. 

While  so  many  of  our  young  men  go  annually  to  Germany, 
year  after  year,  bringing  home  no  practical  good  that  I  can  com- 
prehend, it  is  sincerely  to  be  wished  that  some  of  them  might  go 
to  Scotland,  to  see  the  Presbyterian  machine  really  worked,  by 
congregations  having  from  twenty  to  thirty  ruling  elders  each, 
and  as  many  deacons,  and  to  limber  their  academic  sermonizing 
by  a  hearing  of  several  commanding  preachers,  who  unite  athletic 
bodies  with  well-furnished,  determined,  and  fervent  minds.  Some 
things  I  honestly  believe  they  might  learn  of  us,  but  in  the 
faculty  of  carrying  gospel  truth  with  interest  to  promiscuous 
assemblies  and  the  common  people,  they  excel  us.  With  hardly 
any  exception,  all  the  preachers  of  Scotland,  w^ho  are  much  fol- 
lowed by  the  multitude,  are  as  remarkable  for  purely  evan- 
gelical preaching,  as  for  intellectual  power  and  impressive 
elocution.  Eew  of  them  are  what  we  should  denominate  good 
speakers. 

With  thanksgiving  to  the  God  of  our  life,  who  has  preserved 
me  and  mine  through  many  changes,  I  record  my  desire  to  return 
to  the  land  which  I  admire  and  love  the  more  by  reason  of  all 
contrasts  and  comparisons,  and  to  the  labours  for  which  I  trust 
I  am  in  some  slight  measure  better  prepared  in  body,  though  not 
yet  wholly  relieved. 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  II. 


-•♦♦- 


Abeel,  28,  40,  46,  49. 

Achilli,  134. 

Acs,  172. 

Acts,  209. 

Adams,  212. 

Advent  Second,  54. 

Advertisements,  48. 

Affliction,  109.   (See  Condolence.) 

Agassiz,  115,  117. 

Agriculture.  262,  322,  338. 

Albany,  198. 

Alexander,  A.  ,28,  32, 35. 38, 44, 46, 49,  53,  67, 
104,  111,  114,  123,  124,  128, 131, 157,  162, 
165,  173,  175,  179,  180,  184,  186,  191, 193, 
209,  222,  230,  236,  253. 

Alexander,  J.  A.,  9,  30, 49,  50,  55,  56,  59,  72, 
74,  75,  77,  79,  85,  94,  95,  100,  102,  112, 123, 
126,  145,  146,  188,  190, 193,  194,  222,  227, 
234,  235,  245,  260,  279,  280,  283,  297. 

Alexander,  H.  C,  190,  226. 
"        S.  D.,  129. 
"        Stephen,  126. 

Alliance,  Evangelical,  68,  69,  154,  155,  339. 

Alps,  148,  252. 

America,  (Central,)  220. 

"        (South,)  204,  220,  230,  232,  233. 
"        United  States,  321. 

Amsterdam,  332. 

Amusements,  109. 

Anniversaries,  29,  31,  69,  96,  115. 

Anti-Christ,  34,  114. 

Antwerp,  262. 

Archer,  368. 

Architecture,  139, 155,  262,  265,  266,  318. 

Arctic,  134,  203. 

Area,  18. 

Argyle,  349. 

Armstrong,  J.  F.,  87. 
"        W.  J.  59. 

Arnold,  20,  24,  25,  239. 

Arnott,  33. 

Art,  Christian,  319. 
"  Treasures,  238. 

Arthur,  Prince,  245. 

Assembly,  General,  32,  70,  83, 120, 129,  225, 
280,  288. 

Assembly,  (Scotch,)  39. 
"        National,  143,  416. 

Astor  Library,  36,  195. 

Astoria,  83,  85. 

Astor  Place  riot,  96. 

Atkinson,  94. 

Auchincloss,  5,  8, 110,  226. 

Augsburg  Confession,  S3. 

Augustine,  234. 

Backhouse,  205. 
Baden  Baden,  255. 


Baird,  340. 

Baptism,  24,  25,  34,  72, 108,  273. 

Baptists,  200. 

Beach  street,  95. 

Beers,  8,  9,  129. 

Begg,  49. 

Belfast,  158,  351. 

Belgium,  261. 

'"        King  of,  255. 
Bell,  180. 
Bells,  6. 
Bellows,  167. 
Bengel,  130,  203. 
Berne,  254,  328. 
Berrian,  16,  209. 
Berwick,  342. 
Bethune,  131, 
Bible,  12, 13,  14,  34,  41,  90,  125,  253. 

"        Class,  221. 

"        House,  203. 
Bickersteth,  40,  184, 198,  204,  339. 
Bigler,  12,  22. 
Bilderdijk,  335. 
Billingsgate,  337. 
Biography,  130, 131. 
Biot,  147. 

Bishop,  (Mrs.,)  17. 
Bishops,  246,  314. 
Blacks,  18,  52,  54, 114, 131,  208,  222.    (See 

Slavery.) 
Blanc,  Mont,  149,  252,  323,  324. 
Bluecoat  bovs,  153,  265. 
Boardman,  66,  178. 
Boerhaave,  333. 
Bonaparte,  99. 
Books,  41. 
Bookshops,  23. 
Bossuet,  209,  275. 
Boulevards,  317. 
Boyd,  59. 
Bride),  83,  85. 
Bridgeport,  225,  226. 
Brighton,  247. 
Bristol,  177,  227. 
Britain,  (httle,)  153. 
Broaddus,  207. 
Brougham,  119,  245. 
Brown's  Catechism,  25. 
Bruce,  267. 
Bruges,  263, 
Brussels,  263. 
Bulwer,  129, 133. 
Bunsen,  78,  140,  185. 
Burns,  (Dr.,)  68. 
Burt,  131. 

Bush,  9,  18,  26,  38,  40, 194,  230. 
Business  Men,  17. 
Byers,  187. 


374: 


INDEX   TO   VOL.    II. 


Byron,  256,  260,  342. 

Cabell,  71,  208,  211,  212,  213,  288,  291. 

Cable,  265,  281,  283. 

California,  92,  116,  119,  172. 

Calvin,  148,  184,  253. 

Cambridge,  155, 160,  342. 

Campaualoifians,  6. 

Campbell,  244,  245,  246. 

Candlish,  199. 

Candor,  108. 

Canova,  238. 

Capadose,  154. 

Cape  Cod,  190. 

Capitals,  72. 

Carlyle,  9,  47,  171,  265,  283. 

Carnaban,  285. 

Castleman,  211. 

Catechism,  25,  27,  50,  87,  131. 

Catechumen,  170. 

Cathedrals,  157,  263,  266,  327,  329,  330,  331. 

Chalmers,  12,  15,  184, 198. 

Chambers  street,  67. 

Chamonix,  149. 

Channing,  94. 

"  Charge"  Presbyterial,  303. 

Charity,  165, 166. 

"  Charity  and  the  Clergy,"  205. 

Charleston,  173,  175. 

Charter  Oak,  229. 

Cheever,  26,  28,  50,  227. 

Cherokees,  118, 

Children,  80,  215. 

China,  195, 198,  284. 

Christ,  (life  of,)  193, 197,  203. 

"      as  Lord,  221. 
Christ  Church  Hospital,  153. 
Cholera,  100,  101,  199. 
Church,  (American,)  102, 105. 
»        (English ,)192,  255,  262. 
"       (Scotch,)  157,  185,  368. 
"       (Brick,)  186. 

"       (Duane  st.,)  5,  99,  103,   106,  110, 
113,  116,  119,  126. 
Church,  (Fifth  av.,)  163, 176,178,180, 181, 

182, 198, 214. 
Clay,  Cassius,  45. 
H    Henry,  167. 
"  Clerks  Cheered  and  Counselled,"  231. 
Cleeves,  327. 
Clirehugh,  35. 
Close,  319,  320. 
Coblenz,  259. 
Cock-lane,  242. 
Coleridge,  335. 
Collections,  16,  49,  59,  64,  66,  92, 169, 180, 

183, 185, 193, 196,  233. 
Collects,  16,  369. 
Colleges,  105, 117. 

"        Amherst,  180. 

"        Christ  Church,  160, 161. 

"        France,  147. 

"        New  Jersey,  72, 100, 113, 123, 206, 

279. 
"        WilUams,  131. 
Collins,  212. 

Cologne,  150, 181,  261,  331,335. 
Colwell,  166,  275. 
Comfort  (Rev.  Mr.,)  194. 
Commons,  House  of,  139,  244. 
Communions,  16,  23,  45,  51,  97,  113, 115, 

185,  194,  205,  215,  218,  224,  279. 
Concordance,  23. 


Condolence,  36,  48,  58, 189,  229. 

Conference,  (Seminary,)  104. 

Congress,  217. 

Connecticut,  118,  227. 

Connitt,  227. 

"  Consolation,"  180,  197, 199, 

Cook,  158,  363. 

Conscience,  Hendrik,  263. 

Cooley,  45. 

Cooper,  182. 

Coquerel,  95,  364. 

Corderoy,  69. 

Correspondence,  69. 

Covent  Garden  market,  310,  311,  313. 

Cowper,  54,  239. 

Cox,  11,  51,  67. 

Cranworth,  245. 

Crimea,  202,  206. 

Cromwell,  47. 

Crystal-Palace,  132, 138, 187, 192,  244,  283. 

Cuba,  203. 

Culbertson  124, 195. 

Cumming,  222. 

Cunningham,  89. 

Cuyler,  123. 

Dabnev,  279. 

Dacosta,  154,  203,  335. 

"  Dairyman's  daughter,"  250. 

Dallas,  244. 

D'Arcy,  357. 

Davenport,  272. 

Davies,  133. 

Davy,  235. 

D.  D.,118. 

Deaconesses,  102,  103. 

Death  of  children,  67. 

Delaroche,  87. 

Delual,  146,  168. 

Demission,  76. 

Demme,  113. 

De  Witt,  67, 187. 

Dickens,  91,  102,  109, 138. 

Dickson,  156,  268,  343. 

Dictionaries,  108. 

Diion,  321. 

Dill,  89,  9L 

"  Discourses,"  182. 

Doane,  92. 

Dod,  42,  43. 

Doddridge,  102. 

"  Doomed  Man,"  185. 

Douglass,  69. 

Duane  street  church.    (See  Church.") 

Dublin,  159,  353,  358. 

Duff,  118, 196, 197,  215,  267. 

Duncan,  94. 

Durbin,  68. 

Dueseldorf,  95, 151. 

Dwight,  215. 

Eardley,  339. 

Edinburgh,  156,  266,  343. 

Edwards,  115. 

Elders,  17,  26,  186,  272,  273. 

Electrical  experiment,  187. 

Ellenborough,  246. 

Emerson,  170. 

Emigrants,  83,  92, 113, 141, 173, 176, 18&,  22(i 

354,  356,  358,  360, 
Emmons,  85. 
Emplovers,  196. 
England,  135, 195. 


INDEX   TO   VOL.    II. 


375 


English,  154,  264. 

"       Theologj',  118. 
Episcopalians..  59,  74,  111. 
Epochs,  (chuvch,)  41. 
Erasmus,  18;^. 
Eton,  139. 
Etymology,  43. 

Europe,  letters  from,  134,  238,  307. 
Eutaxia,  209,  267. 
Everett,  285. 

Evi deuces  of  Christianity,  66. 
Ewing,  Dr.,  218,  274. 
"  Examiner,"  49. 
Extension  table,  76. 

"  Family  "Worship,"  67,  87. 

Farraday,  45. 

Fenelon,  209. 

Ferguson,  234. 

Fete  Dieu,  142,  145,  181. 

Fiction,  53. 

Fifth  Avenue  Church.    (See  Church.) 

Fillmore,  230. 

Finley,  115. 

"     W.  P.,  173, 175. 
Finney,  118, 124,  278. 
Fire,  106. 
Fitzwilliam,  245. 
Fliedener,  96,  102., 
Fog,  265. 
Foreman,  118. 
Foster,  56,  95. 

France,  81,  83,  145, 180,  314. 
Frankfort,  257. 
"  Frank  Harper,"  63. 

Free-churches,  183,  187, 194,  205,  208,  223, 
284.  )        )        ) 

Free-love,  169, 

Freiburg,  330. 

French,  133,  172. 

"  Friends'  Meeting,"  180. 

Froude,  26. 

Fry,  73,  79,  201. 

Fugitive  slaves,  197. 

Funerals,  171, 242. 

Furs,  220. 

Future  state,  215,  216,  218. 

Gainsboroneh,  238. 

Gallatin,  75,^84,  91,  94,  97,  98, 102. 

Galway,  355. 

Gambling,  256,  259. 

Garden  of  Plants,  319. 

Gavazzi,  187,  188,  194. 

Geneva,  148,  252,  323. 

George's  (St.)  Chapel,  139, 309, 

Germany,  319. 

Germans,  173, 176, 177, 187, 196,  227,  258. 

German  hymns,  101,  117,  259,  296. 

"      theory  of  church,  104. 

"      preaching,  65. 
Ghent,  264. 
Giantess,  258. 
Giant's  causeway,  352. 
Gilliss,  220. 
Gladstone,  280. 
Glasgow,  157,  347. 
Glossary, 218. 
Goethe,  257. 
Gort,  35C). 
Gothic,  155,  265. 
Gough,  65,  88,130. 
Graham,  191. 


Greeley,  164, 

Greenwich  fair,  307. 

Greenwood,  123. 

Grenada.  215. 

Grote,  172. 

Gurley,  81. 

Gurney,  201,  205. 

Guthrie,  174,  219,  267,  268,  270. 

Guy  on,  208. 

Guyot,  107. 

Gymnastics,  275. 

Hague,  335. 
Haines,  76. 
Hall,  95. 
Hallock,  236. 
Halsted,  186,  289, 

Hamilton,  41,  136,  140,  155,  239,  240,  241, 
339,  341.  3        )        )       i 

Hampton  Court,  310. 
Hare,  Robert,  216. 

"    Rev.  O.,  108. 

"    Julius,  79. 
Harrison,  113. 
Hawthorne,  177. 
Hay,  115. 
Hazards,  226. 
Hazlitt,  34. 
Head,  285,  259. 
Heath,  241. 
Heather,  346. 
Health,  26,  173,  176,  185,  201,  213,  235,  272, 

276,  286,  290.  '        ' 

"Hearts  and  Hands,"  282. 
"  Hebrews,"  12,  22,  24,  41, 43,  60 
Heidelberg,  257,  329. 
Helensburgh,  158,  348. 
Henry,  45, 107. 
Herodotus,  86. 
Herschell,  33. 
Hippolytus,  185. 
Hodge  G.,  146,  225,  298,  299. 

"      C.  W.,  118. 

"      A.  A.,  1.30. 
Hogarth,  238. 
Holland,  151,  332. 
Homoeopathy,  17,  76,  205. 
Hopkins,  131. 
Hosier-lane,  242. 
Housman,  49. 
Howe,  216. 
Hue,  209. 
Hume,  124, 
Huidekoper,  218. 
Humphrey,  225. 
Hungarians,  172. 
Hyde- Park,  312. 
Hymn-book,  40,  172,  238. 
Hymnology,  117,  124,  141. 

Inauguration,  103, 109,  110. 

Inch, 354. 

India,  111,  257,  270,  307. 

Indians,  51,  178,  189. 

"  Infants'  library,"  20. 

Inman,  45. 

Inns  of  Court,  240,  241,  245. 

Inquiry  meetings,  224. 

Inspiration,  126. 

Installation,  5,  88,  305. 

Interlaken,  254. 

Ireland,  158,  351. 

Irving,  (Washington,)  104, 125,  220. 


376 


INDEX  TO   VOL.    II. 


Irvingites,  169, 171,  194,  196,  206,  241. 
Italians,  115. 

James,  (Apostle,)  132. 

Janeway,  41. 

Japan,  333. 

Jay,  204. 

Jefferson,  115,  220. 

Jenks,  68. 

Jersey  City  Church,  88. 

"  Jerusalem,  mother  dear,"  103, 105 

Jeter,  207. 

Jews,  8,  40,  49,  213,  257,  258. 

Johns,  101,  287. 

Johnston,  22,  59,  88,  125. 

Jones,  43. 

"  Journal  of  Commerce,"  ISO,  285. 

Judson,  201. 

Juvenal,  91. 

Kalley,  14. 

Kansas,  225,  234. 

Kennedy,  113. 

Kent,  68,  77. 

Khur,  74. 

Kidder,  10,  28,  33,  46,  48. 

King,  111,  348,  364. 

Kinnev,  110. 

Kirk,  212- 

Kirkwood,  126. 

Kitto,  73. 

Knox,  119,  121. 

Kossuth,  164,  166, 167,  172. 

Lalor,  24. 

Lamb,  44,  153,  154. 

Lanneau,  116. 

Lark,  239,  248. 

Lawrence,  184,  313,  354. 

Lawrenceville,  273. 

Leamington,  239. 

Leckie.  57. 

Leeser,  7, 17. 

Le  Grand,  19,  21,  208. 

Letter,  ironical,  174. 

"      Last,  290,  303. 
Letters,  123. 

"  Letters  to  Young  Minister,"  96. 
Lewis,  37. 
Leyden,  334. 
Liberia,  132,  284. 
Lichtenstein,  69. 
Lime  street,  341. 
Limerick,  354. 
Lincoln's  Inn,  241. 
Lind,  124,  126,  130. 
Lindsay,  32. 
Lindslv,  130. 
Linen  Hall,  351. 
Lisco,  124. 

Liturgy,  119, 195,  209,  262,  264,  267,  369. 
Liverpool,  135,  238,  361,  367. 
Livingston,  41,  249,  250,  272. 
Lochs,  345,  346,  347,  348. 
London,  135, 144, 152,  240,  264,  307,315,  336. 
Long  Branch,  72. 
Lonsdale,  239. 
Lord,  88,  131,  204. 
Lord's  Snpper,  169,  185. 
Lords,  House  of,  141,  244,  313. 
Lou  sh ridge,  64. 

Louis  Napoleon,  142,  168,  181. 234,  250,  315. 
Louis  Philippe,  81,  125. 


Lowrie,  79, 172. 

Lucerne,  328. 

Luther,  112,  117,  125,  258,  26L 

Lutherans,  120. 

Lyndhurst,246. 

Macaulay,  218,  219,  235,  261. 
Maclean,  132,  133. 
Macnaughten,  10, 11. 
Macon,  251. 
Mac  Tavish,  55. 
Madeira,  14. 
Madeleine,  145. 
Madison,  91. 
Magdalen,  88,  103. 
Magnetism,  18. 
Maidenhead,  273. 
Maine  Law,  170,  177. 
Malan,  148,  252. 
"  Man  of  Business,"  231. 
"  Man  of  Sin,"  114,  143,  144. 
Marriage  Laws,  98, 123. 
Marriott,  255. 
Marsh,  75. 
Martineau,  171. 
Masters,  8,  9. 
Mason,  E.,  94, 125. 

"       L.,72, 191, 197,  262. 
Mauch  Chunk,  230. 
Maurice,  199. 
Maxwell,  245. 
Mayer,  222. 
Mayhew,  131,  152. 
Maynooth,  359. 
Mazarin  Bible,  77. 
McCheyne,  11,  26. 
McCormick,  289. 
McEwen,  348. 
McFarland,  225. 
McG-regor,  282. 
McHenry,  286. 
McKemie  Church,  53. 
Mc  Lean,  14. 
McLeod,  368. 
McNeile,  162,  362. 
Medals,  97. 
Melrose,  266. 

"  Memoir  of  A.  Alexander,"  895. 
Mercersberg.  120. 
Merle,  (d'Aubigiie,)  7,  8,  10,  33. 
Methodists,  10,  12,  41. 
Mexico,  51,  53,  59,  66,  70,  73,  74,  76,  SO,  175. 
Microscopes,  122. 
Milburn,  217. 

Millennium,  118,  192, 198,  199. 
Miller,  Hugh,  235,  350. 

"      John,  104. 

»      Samuel,   85,  97,  104,  108,  110,  116, 
146,  165. 
Millerite,  7. 
Milman,  105,  136. 
Miluer,  234. 
Milnor,  11,  28. 
Milton,  265. 

Missions,  A.  B.  C   F.,  115. 
Missions,  American,  51,  53,  89,  91,  111,204. 


Mission  Chapel,  217,  219,  277, 
Missions,  City,  42,43, 167,  186, 
Mis^;ions,  Foreign,  41,  44,  04, 

132,  140,  167. 
Mitchell,  158,  347. 
Moderation!,  12,  74,  77. 
Moligny,  146. 


28. 
188, 
70, 


285. 
191,195. 
81,  119, 


INDEX   TO   VOL.    H. 


377 


Monod,  114,  143,  146,  315,  317,  364. 

Monsaltvage,  230. 

Moravian,  20,  61. 

Morell,  125. 

Muhlenberg,  167,  188,  205,  217. 

Mulattoee,  212. 

Muncaster,  264. 

Murray,  68. 

Museum,  British,  154,  341. 

Music,  87,  132,  136, 143,  241,  263,  318,  338. 

Miitter,  134, 135. 

Napoleon.    See  Louis. 

Neander,  82. 

Nebraska,  197. 

Nevin,  82,  87. 

Newark  Advertiser,  66. 

New  England,  179,  200,  226,  227,  228. 

Newport,  177,  199,  226. 

New  School,  8,  10,  17,  81. 

Newton,  (N.  J..)  201. 

"       J.  W.,'324. 
New  Year's,  15,  232.    See  Year-texts. 
New  York,  5,  128,  164,  271. 
Niagara,  55. 
Nicholas.  207. 
Noah,  (M.  M.,)  8. 
Noel,  91,  100,  155,  246,  263,  264,  340. 
Nott,  221. 

Oberland,  253. 

0'Connell,-73. 

Old  age,  228. 

Old  hundred,  92. 

Olney,  240. 

Olyphant,  180. 

Omnibuses,  309. 

Onderdonk,  16. 

Opera  House  service,  283,  286. 

Oratorio,  143. 

Ordination,  Law  of,  120,  122. 

"  of  Dr.  A.,  221. 

Organs,  197,  206,  208. 
Origon,  25. 

Orthography,  41,  43,  90,  94,  218. 
Ostend,  203. 
Otey,  365,  366. 
Otterson,  210. 
Owen,  233,  262,  369. 
Oxford,  160,  360. 

Paintings  and  Sculpture,  155,  237,    238, 

257,  258,  261,  263,  310,  331,  341,  342. 
Palace,  311. 
Paralysis,  20. 
Paris,  142,  251,  314. 
Parker,  191. 
Parochial  schools,  52. 
Pascal,  23. 
Pastor,  63,  231. 
Pastoral  Theology,  179. 
Paterson,  114. 
Paul's,  St.,  136,  138. 
Pays,  Latin,  144,  316. 
Pay  son,  44. 
Peace,  59. 
Peat,  346. 
Pelham,  250. 
Pennington  Church,  78. 
Penny  Magazine,  311,  315. 
Periwigs,  35. 
Perrin,  105. 
Pews,  39,  194. 


Philadelphia,  37,  89,  151, 195,  231,  332,  336, 

355. 
"  Plain  Words  to  Commimicants,"  203. 
Plumer,  182. 
Plutarch,  20,  86. 
Plymouth  brethren,  281,  283. 
Pocahontas,  88. 
Police,  308. 
Politics,  7,  9,  12. 
Pollock,  82. 
Poor,  38,  165,  275. 
Poperv,  77,  144,  159,  166,  168, 186,  209,  262, 

318,  331. 
Portrait,  138. 
Post  Office,  20,  310. 
Posture,  222. 

Potts,  George,  8,  33, 39,  42,  50, 125,  133, 182 
"      S.  G.  212. 
"      W.  S.,  172. 
Powers,  75. 
Pratt,  220. 

Prayer,  30, 169,  204,  234,  263,  273. 
Prayer  Meetings,  17,  170, 198,  277,  278,  279. 
"  Preacher  and  King,"  185. 
Preachers,  12,   13,  22.     See  Sermons  and 

Preaching. 
Preaching,   24,  29,  30,  64,  68,  95,  117,  125, 

130,  137,  170,  171,  174,  176,  179,  192,  200, 

204,  223. 
Presbvterians,  89,  157, 176,  370. 
Prescott,  286. 
Preston,  272,  313,  343. 
Prevost,  199. 
Primer,  45. 
Princeton,  99,  163,  281. 

"  Magazine,  112,  114. 

Pronunciation,  39,  52,  63.  91,  137, 152,  172, 

174,  175,  213,  247,  339,  340,  343,  361. 
Protracted  meetings,  47. 
Proudiit,  131,  197. 
Psalmody.     See  Singing. 
Pulpit,  263. 
"  Punch,"  14,  29, 175. 
Puritanism,  35. 
Pusey,  160,  161,  234. 
Puseyism,  318. 

Quakers,  25,  44,  55,  57,  119,  131,  200. 
Queen  of  England,  156,  281,  312,  344. 
Quotation,  46. 

Rafaelle,  320. 

Railway  accident,  101. 

Randolph,  243. 

Raphael,  110. 

Read,  255. 

Reading,  46,  124. 

Red  Bank,  281. 

Red  Sweet  Springs,  209,  210,  260,  293. 

Religion,  State  of,  8,  9. 

Renwick,  7. 

Repertory,  20,  31,  33,  38,  49,  56,  87,  107,  116, 

118,  121,  125,  218,  300. 
Review,  British    and  Foreign  Evangeli- 
cal, 203. 

"        Eclectic,  113. 

"        Evangelical,  203. 

"        Mercersburg,  87. 

"        North  British,  12,  125, 133. 
"  Revival  and  Lessons,"  276. 
Revivals,  21,  22,  50,  112,  113,  114,  172,  196 
223,  237,  276. 


378 


INDEX   TO   VOL.   II. 


Reynolds,  238,  263. 

Rhine,  151,  260. 

Rice,    B.il.,)  54, 180,  221. 

»   '(J.  n.,)267. 
"    (N..)  73. 
Richmond,  (Va.,)  70. 

"  Legh,  248,  249,  250,  251. 

Ripley,  131. 

Ritchie,  145. 

Rives,  143,  316. 

Robinson,  68, 151, 155,  lo7,  232. 

Rock  Alum  Springs,  210. 

Romer,  257. 

Roseneath,  349. 

Roiith,  161. 

Rowell,  283. 

Ruffin,  212. 

Rugby,  160,  240. 

Runciman,  349. 

Rush,  119. 

Ruskin,  132. 

Russia,  202,  207. 


u 
cc 


Sabbath,  183,  253,  268. 

^  Sailors'  and  Soldiers'  Manual,"  67. 

Salary,  193,  204. 

Sandberg,  140. 

Sandran,  101. 

Saratoga,  84,  281,  298. 

Savings  Bank,  96. 

l3:5Mll,132,16S.m 
Schenck,  112,  113. 
Scherer,  114, 126. 
Schiedam,  252. 
Schiller,  328. 
Scholefield,  156,  364. 
Schools,  35,  205 

"        Industrial,  217.  .   „ 

"        Sunday,  (and  Journal,)  21,  w,  = 

123,  231,  240,  268 
ct        "  American  and  adjuncts,"  Zoi. 
Scotland,  91,  156  266  343 

Cliurch,  118, 119,  ooO. 
Preachers,  49,  51,  55,  62,  68,  86. 
Publication  Scheme,  11. 
Rhetoric,  23. 
Scott,  Walter,  156,  343. 

leSirt;  (Princeton,)  97,  98,  99, 116, 164, 

Bemoil!l06,125,129,132,219. 
"         Bowen,  239. 
Bruce,  267. 
Clevee,  327. 
Cook,  158,  363. 
D'Arcy,  357. 
De  Witt,  187. 
Finney,  278. 
Guthrie,  267. 

Hamilton,  241,  341. 

King,  348,  364. 

Malan,  253. 

McLeod,  368. 

McNeile,  162,  362. 

Muncaster,  264. 

Koel,  246,  264. 

Ritchie,  145. 

Scholefield,  156, 364. 

South,  283. 

Spurgeon,  241. 

Trench,  241. 
Wells,  241. 


u 

(C 
IC 

(( 
(( 
1[ 

(C 
IC 

(C 

(( 

({ 

a 

II 

n 

(( 

i( 

cc 

(1 

(C 

(( 
l( 


Session,  61. 
Sexton,  6,  206. 
Shaftesbury,  246. 
Shakespeare,  23. 
Sharon  Springs,  188, 190. 
Shaw,  115. 
Shippeu,  115. 
Silius  Italicus,  57. 
Sigourney, 27. 

I^Se  '^'2  \t'  49,  62,  72,  92, 169,  177,  191, 
^200!  264:216,  219,'  241,  242,  262,  263,  267, 

279,  329. 
Sisters  of  Charity,  2T6. 

Sleighins,  46. 
Smith,  Albert,  146,  248. 
"      John  B.,  21. 
"      S.  S.,21. 
»      T.  U.,  186,  208,  214. 
"      of  Jordanhill,  349. 
Smithficld,  242. 
Smyth,  8,  24,  45, 17o. 
Sonnet,  365. 
Sorbonne,  320. 
South,  43,  283. 
Southey,  34. 
South  Hampton,  107. 
Spa,  261. 
Spain,  224. 
Spencer,  125. 
Spiers'  Dictionary,  108. 
Spiritual  rapping,  171. 
Sprague,  124,  1(2,  198,  Z6Z 
Spring,  78,96,168,1.0. 
Spurgeon,  242,  279. 
Stage-coach  stanzas,  260. 
Stanmer,  248. 
Staplers,  245. 
Staten  Island,  36. 
Steamers,  36 
Steel,  182,  193. 
Sterling,  171. 

|witze'rland,148,  251,323 
Stewart,  C.S.,  248,  249,  251,264. 

I'  "      jr.,  60. 

Stewart's  store,  57. 
Stockton,  106. 
Story,  171,  242. 
Stoves,  105. 
Stowe,  199. 
Struthers,  272. 
St.  Sulpice,  146. 
Sweet  Springs,  211. 
Swedenborgians,  9,  i»,  o4. 
Synod,  47, 179. 
Systems,  26. 


Tablet,  299. 
Tarlsen,  6,  206. 
Tavlor,  (Dr.,)73. 
'"      Jane,  66. 

S?;Sce%,150,152,166,170. 

Temple,  140,  242. 
Texas,  18,  62. 
Texts  Isaiah  53 -.3, 109. 
^^'Ezekiel  53 -.10,95. 
"        36,  37,  243. 
Matt.  xi.  29,  57. 
"     16  :  18, 197. 


INDEX  TO    YOL.   II. 


379 


Texts,  Luke  20  :  30,  215. 
John  17  :  12, 132. 
Acts  15  : 1-35,  231. 

"    19:3,193. 
Rom.  7  : 7-25,  68. 

"    16:25,52. 

1  Cor.  13  :  12,  34. 

"    15:7,132. 

2  Cor.  1 :  17-19,  93. 
"      3  : 5-6,  106. 
«'       3:6,  182. 
"       4  : 8,  106. 
"       11 :  28,  182. 

Gal.  1  :  19,  132. 

Eph.  4:16,93. 

Phil.  2  :  3,  47. 
"    3  :  18,  19,  255. 

1  Thess.  2  :  7,  76. 

1  Tim.  3  :  11,  103. 

Heb.  5  :  11-15,  31. 
«     13  :  16,  31. 

James  1  :  9,  208. 

Rev.  22  : 3,  24. 

And  see  Year-texts. 
Thanksgiving,  180,  232. 
Thayer,  178,  227. 
Thiers,  280.  319. 
Tholuck,  135. 
Thompson,  212. 
Thomson,  230. 
Thorburn,  126. 
Thornwell,  70,  225. 
Thurles,  354. 
Tir  Federal,  148,  324. 
Torrey,  117,  122. 
Tract  Society,  7,  8,  10,  17,  32,  67,  90, 188, 

193,  236,  270. 
Tracts,  255,  267. 
Transcendentalism,  222. 
Trench,  204,  232,  242,  282. 
Trinity  church,  132. 
Trumbull,  111, 
Truro,  137,  310, 
Trustee  of  College,  279. 
Tuileries,  142. 
Tapper,  134,  135,  312. 
Turks,  195,  202. 
Turrettini,  253. 
Tyng,  85,  125,  252,  253. 

Ulster  359. 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  175. 

Underworld,  218. 

Unitarians,  167, 194. 

United  Presbyterians,  269,  345,  350. 

Unity,  46. 

University  Chapel,  164. 

"         of  Virginia,  71,  126,  127,  208, 
288. 
Upham,  209. 
Utrecht,  151,  332. 

Valentines,  48,  169. 

Van  Rensselaer,  16.  53. 

Venable,  124. 

Ventnor,  249. 

Versailles,  320. 

Vevay,  327. 

Victoria,  156,  281,  312,  344. 


Virginia,  "70, 126, 197,  207,  210,  288. 

Visiting,  50. 

Voice,  222. 

Voltaire,  148,  236. 

Voyage,  129, 130, 134,  236,  364. 

Vulgate,  23. 

Waddel,  57,  89. 

"Wainwright,  8,  12. 

Waldegrave,  245.   ■ 

Wales,  233. 

Walker,  117, 

Walloons,  263. 

Walpole,  235. 

Walsh,  49,  87, 112,  130,  145,  146,  180,  285, 

286. 
"  Wandering  Jew,"  17, 
War,  51,  53,  74,  202,  217.    See  Mexico. 
"  Warder,"  34, 49. 
Warm  Springs,  210,  211,  290. 
Waterbury,  54,  91,  197. 
Watson's  "  Annals,"  89. 
Waugh,  179. 
Wayland,  115. 
"  Wayside  Books,"  237. 
Webster,  D.,  170,  179. 

"        Dictionary,  108, 
Welsh,  225, 

Wellington,  140,  313,  355. 
Wells,  241. 
Wcslej-,  222. 

Wesleyan  Chapel,  145,  146,  319. 
Westminster,  137,  310,  313. 

"  Abbey,  141,  342. 

West  Point,  116. 
Wetmorc,  43,  56. 
Whatelv,  217. 

White  Sulphur  Springs,  210. 
Wiesbaden,  258. 
Wight,  249. 
Wilkinson,  155. 
Willerup,  125. 
Williams,  210,  216,  219,  294. 
Willis,  11. 
Wilson,  J.  L.,  81,  207. 

"       J.  P.,  29,  265. 

"       Thomas,  47. 
Windsor  Castle,  138,  309. 
Wines,  150,  151. 
Winthrop,  204. 
Witherspoon,  88,  348. 
Words,  83, 104, 108, 110, 175, 188, 192,  235. 
Worship,  171. 

Yale  44 

Year  teits,  63,  78,  91,  110,  181,  184,  194, 

233,  275,  284. 
Yellow  fever,  228. 
Yeomans,  67. 
Yodling,  254,  327. 
Yoke,  57. 
York,  266. 
Yorkville,  88. 
Young  men,  64. 

Zinzendorf,  61. 
Zuingle,  150,  329, 
Zurich,  328, 


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taste,  showing  in  the  author  a  happy  capacity  for  esthetic  discrimination,  as  well  as  for  linguistic 

attainment Addressed  to  a  mixed  audience,  to  the  laiety  rather  than  to  students, 

these  lectures  are  more  popular  than  scholastic  in  their  character.  We  look  upon  this  as  by  no 
means  a  misfortune.  The  book  will,  for  this  very  reason,  reach  and  interest  a  much  larger 
number  of  readers.  We  have  spoken  warmly  of  this  volume,  for  it  has  both  interested  and 
instructed  VlS.'"— Atlantic  Monthly. 

"  These  Lectures  could  have  been  written  only  by  one  himself  profoundly  versed  in  the  depart- 
ment of  knowledge  to  which  they  relate.  The  style  is  graceful  and  attractive — the  opinions  are 
sound  and  ably  vindicated — the  purest  taste,  as  to  words,  idioms  and  authors  pervades  the  entire 
work — and  its  thoroughlj',  yet  not  obtrusively,  didactic  character  commends  it  as  a  manual  for 
those  who  would  speak  or  write  accurately  and  elegantly,  or  would  read  with  discrimination  and 
profit.  So  much  learning  and  wisdom,  weighty  thought  and  just  criticism,  have  seldom  been 
condensed  into  an  equal  space,  and  still  more  rarely  presented  in  a  form  so  well  adapted  to  all 
classes  of  intelligent  readers."— iW)ri{A  American  Review  for  1860. 

"  Every  page  is  full  of  interest  from  the  information  which  it  imparts,  or  the  analogy  which  it 
traces,  the  law  which  it  expounds,  the  knowledge  of  our  common  nature  which  it  displays ;  and 
the  lucid  style  of  the  writer,  the  richness  of  his  thought,  the  aptness  of  his  illustrations,  and, 
when  rare  occasions  offers,  his  gleams  of  humor,  and  delicate  (though  on  that  account  not  less 

pungent)  satire,  diffuse  their  charms  throughout  this  work Mr.  Marsh's  book  is  that 

of  a  master.  He  deals  with  the  subject  in  the  largest  style— comprehensively  and  with  breadth 
of  view,  and  yet  with  rare  completeness  of  detail."— i^.  Y.  Albion. 

"  It  is  a  book  upon  which  the  scholar  may  feast,  while  at  the  same  time  it  will  entertain  every 
intelligent  reader." — Presbyterian  Banner. 

"These  lectures  are  intensely  interesting;  the  vast  range  of  reading,  the  spontaneous  fertility 
of  illustration,  the  keenness  of  analysis,  the  ready  grace  of  argument,  the  clear  beauty  and 
manly  strength  of  style,  and  the  compactness  and  solid  maturity  of  the  results  set  before  us, 

contribute  fresh  deUght  on  every  page Moreover,  there  is,  every  now  and  then,  a 

touch  of  genial  humor  that  gives  warmth,  or  a  gradual  and  natural  kmdling  into  a  glow  of  true 
eloquence,  such  as  stirs  the  heai-t  to  its  depths."— i^.  Y.  Church  Journal. 


Cyclopaedia  of    Missions. 

BY  REV.  HARVEY  NEWCOMB, 
One  volume,  octavo.    800  pages,  with  32  Colored  Maps.    Price  $3  00. 


This  work  contains  just  what  is  needed  by  all  who  are  interested  m  the  great  movements  of 
the  age  for  evan"-elizing  the  world.  It  furnishes  a  succinct  history  of  the  missionary  enterprise 
as  it  has  been  pr°osecuted  by  all  denominations  throxcghout  the  world ;  and  it  will  always 
remain  a  permanent  standard  history  up  to  the  date  of  its  publication,  and  will_  not  be  super- 
seded by  any  late  compilation.  The  publisher  does  not  contemplate  any  change  m  this  volume. 
If  anvthino-  further  is  called  for,  another  volume  will  be  added.  No  one  can  obtam  an  ade- 
quate impression  of  the  progress  of  Christianity  by  reading  the  pubUcations  of  one  denomina- 

*  TiiVork  gives  the  operations  of  all  the  various  Societies  on  the  same  ground  and  in  connec- 
tion:  the  history  of  each  leading  denomination  having  been  prepared  by  members  of  the 
8(wne.  The  sketches  of  missionary  history  are  many  of  them  of  thrillmg  mterest;  and  the 
book  contains  more  information  in  regard  to  the  reUgious  movements  of  the  age,  than  can  be 


WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNEE. 


anywhere  else  found  within  the  same  compass.  Many  pastors  who  have  used  it,  testify  to  ita 
value,  and  regard  it  as  an  indispensable  aid  in  their  preparations  for  the  monthly  concert ;  and 
in  many  churches  it  has  been  found  invaluable  in  carrying  out  the  plan  of  conducting  this 
meeting  by  reports  from  laymen. 

Any  church  wishing  it  for  this  purpose  can  have  Ten  Copies  for  $20,  the  retail  price 
"being  $3. 

"  "We  can  conscientiously  do  Mr.  Newcomb  the  justice  of  saying,  that  in  careful  research  and 
pains-taking  accuracy,  his  work  is  greatly  superior  to  any  other  work  of  reference  on  the 
subject  within  our  knowledge.  It  is  a  work  which  should  be  in  the  hands  of  all  who  desire  to 
become  familiar  with  the  past  history  of  the  efforts  for  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen." — 
^.  Y.  Examiner  {Baptist). 

"  No  pastor  and  no  intelligent  Christian  should  be  without  a  copy  of  this  work."— i^.  T.  Chris- 
tian Intelligencer  (Dutch  Reformed). 

_ "  Comprehensive  and  reliable,  it  presents  in  dictionary  form  a  view  of  missionary  opera- 
tions^ throughout  the  world,  making  a  work  of  reference  which  every  minister  and  every 
intelligent  Christian  wishes  to  have  always  at  hand,  and  it  is  so  well  arranged  that  the  name  of 
any  missionary,  or  mission  station,  or  important  work  may  be  readily  looked  up." — New  York 
Observer. 

"  This  is  an  invaluable  work  for  mmisters,  Sabbath-school  teachers,  and  indeed  for  all  intelli- 
gent lajTuen.  The  amount  of  information  which  it  contains  is  very  great,  and  such  as  cannot 
be  elsewhere  found  in  a  single  volume ;  on  the  score  of  economy — that  is  for  the  saving  of  time 
and  money — we  do  not  see  how  any  one  who  takes  an  interest  in  missions,  and  wishes  to  know 
what  has  )>een  done  and  is  now  doing  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  can  afford  to  do  without 
'iV— Boston  Recorder. 


THE  ART  OF 

EXTEMPORE   SPEAKING: 

Hints  for  the  Pulpit,  the  Senate  and  the  Bar. 

BY  PROP.  M.  BAUTAIN. 

EDITED  BY  A  MEMBER  OP  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR. 

TTT-ITKC    -A^IDIDITIOIsrS,    I?,XJIjES     OIP     3DEB-A.TB,     ETC 

One  vol.,  12mo.    Price  $1  00. 


This  work  is  by  a  distinguished  pulpit-orator  of  France — long  habituated  to  address  some  of 
the  most  polished  auditories  of  the  French  capital.  It  is  the  fruit  of  his  studies  and  experience, 
and  deals  with  the  subject  con  am,ore. 

Many  who  are  in  the  habit  of  delivering  public  addresses,  will  read  a  faithful  portraiture  of 
their  own  embarrassments,  and  will  also  discover  many  valuable  solutions  of  the  peculiar  diffi- 
culties which  beset  them  in  their  trying  vocation. 

"  This  work  has  no  counterpart  or  rival  in  the  English  language ;  other  works  teach  how  tc 
write — this  contains  suggestions  on  the  art  of  speaking — easily,  agreeably,  forcibly,  etc." — 
Christian  Observer. 

"  The  value  of  such  a  book  as  this  cannot  be  computed— it  is  a  wonder  that  there  are  not 
more  like  it." — Boston  Express. 

"  The  whole  is  written  with  great  clearness,  and  with  a  skill  possessed  only  by  one  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  subject.    To  all  speakers,  this  book  will  be  invaluable." — Troy  Whig. 

"  Prof.  Bautain  is  entire  master  of  his  subject,  and  presents  it  with  fullness,  vigor,  and,  above 
all,  with  a  sparkling  clearness  which  invests  it  with  a  genuine  charm The  sugges- 
tions made  are  simple,  practical  and  distinct — the  results  evidently  of  personal  experience." — 
Boston  Journal. 

"  It  is  no  common  book,  and  deals  in  no  commonplaces— it  is  original  and  suggestive.  No 
person  can  read  it  without  becoming  indebted  to  it,  consciously  or  unconsciously."— 5a TWior  of 
the  Cross, 


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